The Banker's Note, Trenholm Plaza: 1990s 13 comments
OK, you knew you were going to be seeing these pictures again, right?
Frankly, until I saw the old pictures, I had completely forgotten there was ever a store called The Banker's Note in Trenholm Plaza, and even after seeing them, I had no idea what it was, or what it sold.
As you can see, the store was east of the A&P and more or less where the current Books-A-Million is. From this shot, it's unclear to me if it included the corner location where the plaza dips north.
Doing a bit of googling turns up this information:
by 1997 the firm had renamed itself to VSI Holdings, Inc.. I'm a bit unclear as to whether a change of ownership happened then, but I don't think so, as the HQ was still in Smyrna.The five year plan, Suchik said, calls for year plan, Suchik said, in sales by the fiscal year ending Feb. 1, 1991. For the year ended Feb 1, 1987, sales hit $34.8 million. Wall Street sees the chain pulling in a volume of $47 to $53 million for the current fiscal year.
In the next five years, store expansion will be concentrated in the nine southeastern states The Banker's Note already operates in from North Carolina down to Florida and Westward to Tennessee and Texas. The chain possibly will invade adjacent markets in Oklahoma and perhaps Arkansas, Suchik added.
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Its ambitious expansion plans, the proliferation of off-pricing and discounting by traditional stores continue to force constant adjustments. "In this business no one can afford to rest on his laurels,' said Suchik.
It appears that VSI had wider ambitions than just clothing, and that in 1999 they made a move into the software business. Maybe that didn't go so well, because by 2001 the owners were shopping the company around, looking for a buyer. It looked as if SPX would do the deal, but the deal unexpectedly fell-through later that year. Apparently after that, the company tried to wind down in an orderly fashion, but in late 2002 a lawsuit by "recalcitrant creditors" forced them into an unplanned Chapter 11.
One thing I don't see anywhere is any mention of why they ever called themselves The Banker's Note. It's certainly not a name that suggests apparel. I'm not sure when this store closed, but it was definitely gone by 1998.
13 Responses to 'The Banker's Note, Trenholm Plaza: 1990s'
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Mr Bill
2 Apr 10 at 3:54 pm
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I see TAPP's in that picture, now I remember why our mother brought us to that shopping center so much. :)
Melanie Gallant
6 Apr 10 at 7:52 pm
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Anyone know what year they took down the giant Trenholm Plaza sign that was in the middle of the parking lot? Been trying for a long while to find a photo of it.
Dennis
9 Apr 10 at 5:14 am
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In my very vague memory, it looked something like this sign for Tallywood in Fayetteville. Is that even close?
ted
9 Apr 10 at 11:16 am
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Did HUGO take that albatross
down in '89 ???fish
19 Apr 10 at 7:15 pm
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I don't think so. I'm pretty sure I would have remembered that.
ted
19 Apr 10 at 9:41 pm
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I think it was gone before Hugo. I dimly remember a big conflict between Forest Acres folk who loved the sign as a local landmark, and those who thought it was an eyesore and wanted it gone. I believe they finally used some zoning law to get it down.
I thought it was cool.
Dennis
20 Apr 10 at 6:04 am
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I worked for The Banker's Note for 8 years. It got its name when the owner was renovating the retail space for his first store. It was located on the Historic Square in Roswell, GA. It was an old bank....it still had its walk-in bank vault. The story goes that Marty, the owner, found old bank notes, either in the walls or somewhere, and gave his retail store that name. We sold ladies apparel, mostly name brands like J.G. Hook, etc. at a discount price. It had a good run, but like all good things, it came to an end. I worked from a sales associate up to District Mgr. with them. I miss the old days.
Karan
28 Dec 11 at 12:42 pm
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I also worked at the Bankers Note from December 1985 to June 1987 and was told the same as Karan, old bank notes found in walls of the store that use to be a bank...
Louise
2 Jan 18 at 1:54 pm
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I worked for Banker’s Note in The Santa Rosa Mall in Ft. Walton Beach, FL as a Key Holder (2nd Assistant Manager). I worked there from 1985 through 1987. The clothes were very fashionable at the time, and we sold everything at a discounted price. The cool thing that stands out in
My mind to this day is that we had 2 HUGE/oversized chandeliers in the store (one at the front of the store and one at the back of the store), which at that time when I was 18 years old seemed very fancy and exquisite! I too had heard the story about how the owner came up with the store name “The Banker’s Note”.Tiffany Parker
25 Jun 18 at 10:58 pm
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I worked in clearwater, fl for paula bryson. We had a great team.
Janet berkowitz
10 Aug 18 at 2:39 pm
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I worked for the Bankers Note in Dallas TX. On Beltline Rd from 1982 to 1983 I had just moved to Texas after graduation I was from the midwest and only 18, was my first real job I loved working there Cathy Byers was the manager. She was from Georgia. I can't remember the names of the other employees but 2 of them where also from Georgia and they where transfered there the others where school teachers working part time I loved the clothes Josephine blouses Evanpicone
Angie
30 Mar 20 at 9:47 pm
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Very interesting.
Thanks!
I love these types of local history.
JohnG
31 Mar 20 at 7:18 pm
I think Books a Million was there by 94