Erskine Bowles is beefing up his lengthy board of directors resume with a stint at Belk.

Bowles, who retired as president of the UNC system in January, was elected to the board of the Charlotte-based department store chain at its annual meeting today.

Bowles is also on the boards of Morgan Stanley, Cousins Properties and Norfolk Southern. The Greensboro native previously served on the boards of General Motors, N.C. Mutual, Merck, VF Corp., Wachovia and Krispy Kreme.

"His extensive service as a director of public companies provides him with a valuable depth of experience on a wide range of corporate governance issues," CEO Tim Belk said in a prepared statement.

Belk reported a third-quarter loss, as the Charlotte-based department-store chain spent millions on a re-branding effort.

Same-store sales during the quarter, an important measure of a retailer's health, rose 2.5 percent from a year earlier.

The $70 million branding campaign includes new signs, logo, advertising and  tagline: "Modern. Southern. Style." Belk officials are trying to revamp the chain's image to attract a wider base of customers.

The effort increased costs but "will boost performance over the long term," CEO Tim Belk said in a prepared statement.

Belk Inc. announced today that it returned to profitability in its most recent fiscal year, as it posted a decline in same-store sales that wasn’t as deep as some of its competitors, the Charlotte Observer's Rick Rothacker reports.

The Charlotte-based department store chain reported net income of $67.1 million for the year ended Jan. 30, 2010, compared to a loss of $213 million in the prior-year period, when it took a large goodwill impairment charge.

Belk’s net sales fell 4.4 percent to $3.4 billion from the year-ago period. On a comparable store basis, sales slumped by 4.6 percent.

Belk, founded in Monroe in 1888, operates 306 stores in 16 Southern states, including seven in the Triangle. Belk employs about 23,500 people.

The Belk department-store chain reported a $400,000 third-quarter profit, as the Charlotte company controlled inventories and expenses.

Last year during the same period, Belk lost $23.5 million when financial markets swooned and consumer spending froze, the Charlotte Observer reports.  

"We're encouraged by an improvement in our sales trends and are pleased that we were able to deliver a profitable quarter and maintain our strong cash position," chairman and CEO Tim Belk said in a statement. "We believe that the operating environment has stabilized, and merchandise margins have improved."

The chain reported sales of $728 million for its fiscal third quarter, down 1.8 percent from 2008, due to continued economic weakness and consumer caution. Sales at stores open a year or more, an important measure of retail health, were down 2.1 percent.

Belk's net income of $400,000 was the result of cutting inventories and expenses - including fewer markdowns and clearance items and improved management of store employees' hours to match business, spokesman Ralph Pitts said.

Read the full Charlotte Observer story here.