Bealls Inc. is an American 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.
History
Late 18th and early 19th centuries ...
, since its founding in 1915, the family-owned corporation now operates more than 650 stores under the names of Bealls, Bealls Outlet, Burkes Outlet, and Home Centric. The CEO of Bealls Inc. is Matt Beall.
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 overlapped in some markets. (Bealls Outlet used the Burkes Outlet name where there was overlap.) However, on October 21, 2020, Bealls bought Stage's intellectual property for $7 million, as part of Stage's winding-down of its operations after that company filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...
in May of that year. In doing so, the Florida chain acquired the rights to use the Bealls name nationwide; previously, it was only able to use the name in Florida, Georgia, and Arizona. Bealls also acquired the rights to the Stage,
Gordmans
Gordmans (stylized as gordmans) was a retailer founded in Omaha, Nebraska. The chain is owned by BrandX as of May 2022. In 2019, Stage Stores began converting other retail chains it owned into Gordmans stores, with the goal of having 700 Gordmans ...
,
Goody's,
Palais Royal
The Palais-Royal () is a former royal palace located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. The screened entrance court faces the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre. Originally called the Palais-Cardinal, it was built for Cardinal R ...
and
Peebles
Peebles ( gd, Na Pùballan) is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in June 2018 wa ...
names, all of Stage's private label brands and 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, and pa ...
.
History
In 1915, 22-year-old
Robert M. Beall Sr. opened a dry goods store in Bradenton, Florida. Investing his entire savings in merchandise, he used empty wooden packing crates as his first display tables. Because the store sold nothing for more than one dollar he called his store ''The Dollar Limit''. Following
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
inflation, in 1920 Beall renamed his store ''V-Dollar Limit Store'' to reflect that maximum prices were pushed up to five dollars. Business prospered during the
Florida land boom of the 1920s
The Florida land boom of the 1920s was Florida's first real estate bubble. This pioneering era of Florida land speculation lasted from 1924 to 1926 and attracted investors from all over the nation. The land boom left behind entirely new, planned ...
; in a few years Beall purchased a vacant lot facing the courthouse and erected a new modern department store, which opened for Christmas, 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. By 1944 he had saved enough to repurchase it.
Bealls Stores
![33Sun City](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/33Sun_City.jpg)
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 Sou ...
. 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. Lines exclusive to Bealls include Reel Legends, Coral Bay, and Leoma Lovegrove.
Bealls Outlet
![BeallaOutlet front](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/BeallaOutlet_front.jpg)
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 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 over-produced, or excess, ...
channel in 1987. After a few hits and misses, Bealls Outlet caught on rapidly. A new buying organization was created, constantly shopping the markets for great finds. In 1992, Bealls opened its first out-of-Florida Outlet in
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
, and soon expanded to
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
. Today Bealls Outlet numbers more than 420 stores in 16 states across the Sunbelt under the names of Bealls Outlet and Burkes Outlet. The Burkes Outlet name is used in
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
,
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
,
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
,
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
,
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
,
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
,
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
,
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
,
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
,
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
,
South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
,
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
, and
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. Online outlet shopping began with the debut of http://www.Burkesoutlet.com in 2014. Bealls and Burkes Outlet stores follow a deep discount every day low price policy with an emphasis on branded merchandise.
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 US non-governmental, and nonprofit organization which was founded in 1976 by couple Millard and Linda Fuller. Habitat for Humanity is a Ch ...
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 Outlet 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