Almost six years after Belk department stores came to Vicksburg with the purchase of McRae’s, the Vicksburg Mall store will get an $870,000 facelift beginning next month.

Darrell E. Williams, Belk Inc. corporate communications manager, said the remodeling project is expected to be capped off with a grand reopening on Oct. 12. He said the project is part of a company program to remodel and improve 43 stores. The company has 300 stores in 16 Southern states, according to its website. Its headquarters and main store are in Charlotte, N.C.

Williams said the shoe and jewelry departments of 32 stores, including the Vicksburg store, which Belk owns, will be remodeled and expanded under the program, while 11 stores will receive a total makeover. He said the Vicksburg store will remain open during the remodeling.

He said the decision to remodel was influenced primarily by increased shoe sales in Belk stores.

“Our shoe business has been very strong recently,” he said. “We want to build on that. This is a business opportunity for us in our market to expand our shoe business. The improvements will allow us to carry more shoe brands and styles that our customers want.”

In addition to expanding the shoe and jewelry departments, Williams said, the remodeling includes new flooring and paint, and improvements to the stores’ restrooms, fitting rooms and customer convenience areas.

Glenn Sellers, Belk vice president and regional manager, said the women’s shoe department of the 62,000-square-foot Vicksburg store will be remodeled and expanded by 1,753 square feet to accommodate the planned enlarged shoe inventory.

“In addition, we’ll be expanding our handbags and accessories department, and our fashion jewelry area will have a modern, open look featuring new open display fixtures rather than cases to make shopping easier and more convenient,” Sellers said.

“We believe customers will love the fresh new look of our store that will result from our remodeling,” Sellers said.

Belk has operated the store at the mall on Pemberton Square Boulevard since its acquisition of the former McRae’s store in 2005. McRae’s first opened a store in Vicksburg in 1971, when it acquired Kennington’s in the Battlefield Village Mall.

McRae’s moved to the then-Pemberton Square Mall when it opened in 1985. Pemberton was renamed Vicksburg Mall after it was purchased by Weiner Development of Houston in October 2010.

Belk and Dillard’s are the mall’s anchor stores. Other major tenants include JC Penney, Goody’s, the Wilcox Theatres, Hibbett Sports, Radio Shack, Payless ShoeSource and Garfield’s Restaurant.