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Panorama to promote personal appearance by Chef Emeril Lagasse for Belk, Inc.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — September 2, 2009 — Belk, Inc. has tapped Panorama Public Relations to promote the personal appearance of Chef Emeril Lagasse, renowned chef, national TV personality and best-selling author, on September 24 at its Riverchase Galleria location.

Lagasse will begin his appearance with a cooking demonstration in the Belk Home Store. The New Orleans chef will teach customers how to spice up their cooking with a BAM!^TM Guests will also have a chance to interact with the chef during an on-stage question and answer session.

Afterwards, Lagasse will autograph copies of his book, Emeril’s Potluck: Comfort Food with a Kicked-up Attitude. Customers will receive a signed copy of the book as a gift with the purchase of $75 or more of Emeril merchandise.

The event is free and open to the public, but a limited number of seats are available on a first come, first served basis.

Chef Emeril Lagasse Chef Emeril Lagasse is the chef/proprietor of eleven restaurants including: three in New Orleans (Emeril’s, NOLA and Emeril’s Delmonico); three in Las Vegas (Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House, Delmonico Steakhouse and Table 10); two in Orlando (Emeril’s Orlando and Tchoup Chop); one in Miami (Emeril’s Miami Beach); one in Gulfport, Miss. (Emeril’s Gulf Coast Fish House) and one at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem in Pa. (Emeril’s Chop House). Lagasse is a national TV personality who has hosted more than 1,500 shows on the Food Network and is the food correspondent for ABC’s “Good Morning America.” He is the host of “Emeril Green,” an original series exploring fresh and seasonal ingredients, which airs on Discovery’s “Planet Green.” His show “Essence of Emeril” can be seen on Food Network, and “Emeril Live” appears on both Fine Living and Food Network.

Lagasse is the best-selling author of 13 cookbooks including Emeril’s New New Orleans Cooking, which introduced his creative take on Creole cuisine, and Emeril’s There’s a Chef in My World, a children’s cookbook. In September 2008, Lagasse announced a multi-year, 10-book project with HarperStudio, a new imprint of HarperCollins. The chef’s first book with HarperStudio, Emeril at the Grill, debuted on April 28, and quickly became a New York Times bestseller. It is the chef’s first book since 2005.

In September 2002, Emeril established the Emeril Lagasse Foundation to support and encourage culinary arts and education programs for children. As of May 2009, the foundation has contributed $3 million to organizations in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region.

Lagasse's corporate office, Emeril's Homebase, is located in New Orleans and houses restaurant operations, a culinary test kitchen and a boutique store for his signature products.

Emeril Lagasse joined the Martha Stewart family of brands in 2008; Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NYSE: MSO) acquired the assets related to Emeril’s media and merchandising business, including television programming, cookbooks, emerils.com website and his licensed kitchen and food products.

For more information about Chef Emeril Lagasse, please visit: www.emerils.com.

About Belk, Inc.
Based in Charlotte, N.C., Belk, Inc. (www.belk.com) is the largest privately owned mainline department store company in the United States, with more than 300 stores in 16 Southern states. The company was founded in 1888 by William Henry Belk in Monroe, N.C., and is in the third generation of Belk family leadership.

About Panorama Public Relations
Panorama Public Relations prepares and positions industry-leading companies to strategically communicate key messages to the media and other stakeholders who are vital to the financial well being of their business and brand.  Founded in 1998, Panorama is based in Birmingham, AL, with satellite offices in Atlanta, GA, Huntsville, AL, and New Orleans, LA. www.prview.com

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