Bealls - Fashion Company Profile
Bealls is a Florida department store chain run by Beall's, Inc. of Bradenton - stores and outlets across Florida, Georgia and Arizona selling clothing, footwear and home goods pitched to Florida lifestyles. A naming warning belongs at the top of any Bealls profile: the Bealls stores in Texas and other states are a different company (Specialty Retailers Inc. of Houston), and the two are not affiliated. This page profiles the Florida company.
Company Snapshot
- Status
- Operating - Florida department store and outlet chain (Beall's, Inc.), not affiliated with the Texas Bealls stores of Specialty Retailers Inc.
- Type
- Private - family-owned
- Headquarters
- Bradenton, Florida, United States
- Founded
- 1915
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Company Profile
The Florida chain has traded for more than a century on local knowledge - beach and resort assortments, value pricing and its own outlet format. Its earlier history, including the Depression-era repurchase of the company by its founder's family, is kept in the profile section below.
In 1915 Robert M. Beall, Sr., age 22, opened a dry goods store in Bradenton, Florida, on the banks of the Manatee River, in a pioneer town of just over 3,000 people. Beall wanted to spend his entire investment of $2,500 on stock, so he overturned the wooden packing crates his goods arrived in and used them for display tables. Nothing was priced over $1.00, so he named his store The Dollar Limit. With the inflation that followed World War I, prices increased, and in 1918 he changed the name to the V (Five) Dollar Limit. The crates and the dollar ceiling are the founding images of this filing, and they explain the value instinct the chain never left.
Bealls History
The earlier record for this company - its history, past brand line-ups, figures and photographs from the periods described - is kept on a separate page for historical reference.
Bealls History & Historical Profile →Common Questions
What is the difference between the Florida Bealls and the Texas Bealls?
Beall's, Inc. of Bradenton, Florida operates the Florida, Georgia and Arizona Bealls and Bealls Outlet stores and websites; Specialty Retailers Inc. of Houston, Texas operates BeallsTx.com and Bealls stores in other states. The original states the two are not affiliated.
How did Bealls start in 1915?
Robert M. Beall, Sr., age 22, opened a Bradenton dry goods store with a $2,500 investment, using overturned packing crates as display tables and pricing nothing over $1.00 - hence the first name, The Dollar Limit.
When was Beall's Outlet created, and how big did it grow?
In 1987, as Chairman E.R. Beall's response to Florida's growing outlet malls; by 2011 the Outlet chain had over 450 stores in 14 states and Bealls overall exceeded a billion dollars in annual sales with over 535 stores.
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