Parisian Inc. (/pəˈriːʒən/, pə-REE-zhən) was an American chain of department stores founded and headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. Competing mainly in the established Southeastern US market through the 1980s against Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, and Gus Mayer, Parisian underwent a series of restructurings and mergers during its 130-year history, and was taken over by Proffitt’s, Inc. in 1996. In September 2006, Belk purchased the Parisian department store properties from Saks for $285 million, although that sale did not include the Parisian nameplate. Five Parisian store locations in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio were instead sold to Bon-Ton, and closed nine additional stores nationwide. The remaining twenty-four locations were rebranded as Belk in September 2007, except for the three Michiga