Belk's been Charlotte-based for decades. Here's why it will file bankruptcy in Texas. Austin Weinstein, The Charlotte Observer Feb. 3—In the Charlotte area, the Belk name is on a freeway, a theater, two football stadiums, a basketball arena and too many college dormitories to count. Popular Searches So, why is Belk — the department store chain that announced it would file bankruptcy last month — going bankrupt in Houston, a city in which it has no stores? And how will Belk get in and out of bankruptcy in as little as 24 hours, as its private equity owner Sycamore Partners hopes it will?