HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Bealls, Inc. is a Florida-based retail corporation with headquarters located in
Bradenton, Florida Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a pri ...
. Since its founding in 1915, the family-owned corporation now operates more than 650 stores under the names of Bealls, Bealls Florida, Home Centric and Rugged Earth Outfitters. Bealls Florida was not affiliated with the Texas-based Bealls chain (formerly owned by
Stage Stores Stage Stores was a department store company specializing in retailing off-price brand name apparel, accessories, cosmetics, footwear, and housewares throughout the United States. Stores were usually located in shopping malls and centers or in st ...
), although the two brands overlapped in some markets with Bealls Outlet using the name Burkes Outlet where they overlapped. In 2020, Bealls bought Stage Stores intellectual property and acquired the rights to the Bealls name nationwide. They also acquired the rights to all of Stage's different chains, private labels, customer lists and a distribution center in
Jacksonville, Texas Jacksonville is a city located in Cherokee County, Texas, United States. The population was 13,997 at the 2020 U.S. census. It is the principal city of the Jacksonville micropolitan statistical area, which includes all of Cherokee County. Ja ...
. In 2022 they sold the rights to the Stage Stores chains (excluding Bealls) to BrandX.


History

In 1915, 22-year-old Robert M. Beall Sr. opened a dry goods store in Bradenton, Florida called "Dollar Limit" he invested his entire savings in merchandise and empty wooden packing crates were used as the display tables. In 1920 the store was renamed to ''V-Dollar Limit Store'' as the maximum price went up to five dollars. Business prospered during the
Florida land boom of the 1920s The first real estate bubble in Florida was primarily caused by the economic prosperity of the 1920s coupled with a lack of knowledge about List of Florida hurricanes, storm frequency and poor Building code, building standards. This pioneering e ...
and in a few years Beall had purchased a vacant lot and built a new modern department store which opened in Christmas of 1924. The Florida boom ended in a few years, only to be followed by the stock market crash. Hard hit and unable to pay his debts, Robert Beall lost his business to the bank. He stayed on as manager through the depression. In 1944 after paying off his debts he managed to repurchase the company.


Bealls Stores

In 1946, Robert was joined by his son E.R. as junior partner. They christened the business ''Bealls Department Store''. Air conditioning and an influx of new residents in the 1950s began to transform the face of Florida. In 1957, the second Bealls Department store was opened in Bradenton's Westgate Shopping Center and a third store followed in 1961 at the Venice Shopping Center in
Venice, Florida Venice is a city in Sarasota County, Florida, United States. The city includes what locals call "Venice Island", a portion of the mainland that is accessed via bridges over the artificially created Intracoastal Waterway. The city is located in ...
. E.R. developed the new chain while his father ran the original downtown store until just prior to his death in 1979. During the 1960s and 1970s Florida experienced amazing growth and Bealls stores grew with it. In 1980, Robert M. Beall II became president of the corporation—the third generation. E.R. became chairman of the board. By 1981 the chain had 23 stores. A year later, seven new stores enabled the chain to double its selling space. Bealls continued to grow into new communities and adopt new technologies, introducing in-store kiosks and launching their website in 1998. Bealls' growth philosophy was to self-finance; staying within the limits of its operating cash, and keeping its debt load low. To customize its product line, Bealls opened its own design studio in 2004. In 2023, it was announced that Bealls would be rebranded to bealls nationwide, and all Bealls stores in Florida would be renamed as Bealls Florida.


Bealls (formerly Bealls Outlet)

E.R. Beall having observed the growth of outlet stores in North Carolina, Bealls ventured into the
off-price Off-price is a trading format based on Discounts and allowances, discount pricing. Off-price retailers are independent of manufacturers and buy large volumes of branded goods directly from them. The off-price retail model relies on the purchase of ...
channel in 1987. After a few hits and misses, Bealls Outlet caught on rapidly. In 1992, Bealls opened its first out-of-Florida Outlet in
Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
, and soon expanded to
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
. Now Bealls Outlet operates in many different states under the names Bealls Outlet & Burkes Outlet. In April 2023, it was announced that Bealls Outlet & Burkes Outlet would both be rebranded to "bealls" and that Bealls (in Florida) would be renamed to Bealls Florida.


Home Centric

The Home Centric brand of stores began as a store within a store test concept in select Burkes Outlet and Bealls Outlet stores. The first stand-alone Home Centric store opened in May 2018 in Cary, NC focusing on discount home furnishings and home decor. Home Centric is dedicated to bringing its customers "inspired living for less" maintaining the focus on discounted pricing established by the Burkes Outlet and Bealls Outlet brands.


Community

Following the sale of the old downtown store, the proceeds were used to establish a charitable foundation named for the founder. Since then the foundation has provided scholarships to over 600 employees and their dependents. Bealls is a longtime contributor to the United Way and to agencies that help young people and education. In celebration of its centennial year, company outreach assisted
Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a U.S. non-governmental, and tax-exempt 501(C)(3) Christian nonprofit organization which seeks to build affordable housing. The international ...
and the American Cancer Society; Bealls also sponsors Take Stock in Children, helping to mentor at-risk children throughout Florida.


References


External links


Bealls Inc. websiteBealls Florida retail websitebealls websiteBurke's Outlet websiteBunulu websiteHome Centric websiteRugged Earth OutfittersReel Legends
{{Department stores in the United States 1915 establishments in Florida Retail companies established in 1915 Companies based in Manatee County, Florida Bradenton, Florida Department stores of the United States Family-owned companies of the United States