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Private company

Bealls

Logo: Walrian, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons3

United States retail corporation

Bealls, Inc. is a Florida-based retail corporation with headquarters located in Bradenton, Florida since 1915. Bealls Florida was not affiliated with the Texas-based Bealls chain (formerly owned by Stage Stores), 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.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1915Founded1

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A Bealls, Inc. retail store in Murphy, North Carolina 02
Photo: Harrison Keely, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons5

Bealls, Inc. is a Florida-based retail corporation with headquarters located in Bradenton, Florida since 1915.2

The story

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 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. 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.

From Wikipedia’s article on Bealls (Florida-based department store), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Timeline

  1. 1915Founded Founded1

Sources

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