A $7 million expansion and renovation of McRae's at Dogwood Festival Marketplace in Flowood is under way.

The store is adding 50,000 square feet before it is rebranded as a Belk Inc., store in March. Charlotte, N.C.-based Belk, one of the nation's largest privately owned department store companies, purchased the Flowood store and 46 additional Proffitt's and McRae's stores in July.

"It's one of the best performing stores in the company," Belk's official Jim Dezzutti said of the Flowood store.

The store that opened in the spring of 2002 employs about 100 full-time employees, said Dezzutti, vice president and regional manager of Belk's Upper Mississippi Region based in Jackson.

The expansion will mean additional employees, but Dezzutti said he didn't know how many.

Gail Martin, executive director of the Rankin County Chamber of Commerce, said he's been told the store expansion could mean up to 30 new jobs.

The Rankin County Chamber of Commerce had pushed for the store expansion even before it was sold to Belk, he said.

"Lakeland Drive is probably one of the heaviest traveled roads that there is," he said.

"The Flowood store was one of the smaller McRae's stores, and they had to limit the inventory they had there."

Once completed, the store will have 170,000 square feet, making it much larger than the typical Belk store, Dezzutti said.

The store will allot the additional space to women's ready-to-wear, the home store and men's clothing, he said.

The interior of the store will be renovated using the latest in retail design, layout, lighting, merchandise presentation and decor.

Dr. Steve Zachow, a board member of the Dogwood Subdivision Homeowners Association, said Dogwood Festival Marketplace provides his wife and three children a convenient place to shop since it's a short drive from their home.

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