The Bealls name is headed back to Hillsboro, carrying a little retail déjà vu. For longtime shoppers, the planned Bealls Hillsboro store may raise an understandable question: didn’t Bealls already close?
The answer starts with two companies that shared a name. The new arrival comes from Florida-based Bealls Inc., whose history runs separately from the old Texas Bealls chain associated with Stage Stores.
It also comes with a different address. Bealls is preparing a 24,546-square-foot store in the former Dirt Cheap anchor space at Hillsboro Shopping Center, 1320 Corsicana Highway. This is a new chapter for that retail space, rather than a reopening of Hillsboro’s former Bealls.
A Familiar Sign With a Different History
Texas shoppers knew Bealls as part of the Stage Stores retail family, alongside names such as Palais Royal, Peebles and Goody’s. Stage entered bankruptcy in 2020 and liquidated its stores. An announcement from its real estate adviser documented that liquidation and the sale of assets.
Hillsboro has its own physical reminder of that earlier business. Commercial marketing for Hillsboro Center, around North Waco Street and Corsicana Highway, identifies a former Bealls space. That property is separate from the new project at 1320 Corsicana Highway.
So the familiar name does not mean shoppers should head back to the old building. The incoming retailer has a different corporate story and a different Hillsboro home.
From a Florida Five-and-Dime to Bealls
Today’s Bealls Inc. traces its beginnings to 1915 in Bradenton, Florida. According to the company’s history, founder Robert M. Beall opened a small dry-goods store called the Dollar Limit. Nothing cost more than a dollar.
His first display tables came from the wooden packing cases that carried the merchandise. More than a century before the Hillsboro project, the business already revolved around making a modest retail space work hard.
The Florida company later expanded into off-price retail and introduced the Burkes name outside its original territory. That name may offer Texas shoppers another point of recognition: the business arriving now belongs to the company behind Burkes Outlet.
There is an important connection between the two Bealls histories. In 2020, the Florida company acquired national rights to the Bealls name from Stage. Then, in its 2023 rebranding announcement, it explained that those rights allowed Burkes Outlet and Bealls Outlet stores to unite under the bealls name.
The companies grew from separate roots, but the naming rights eventually came together. That helps explain why a familiar sign can reappear without reviving the old Stage retail operation.
What Bealls Hillsboro Will Bring to the Shopping Mix
The current bealls concept is an off-price retailer, with a changing assortment aimed at shoppers looking for value. Its appeal stretches beyond a single clothing department.
The retailer’s current merchandise offerings include women’s, men’s and children’s clothing, shoes, beauty products and home décor. Handbags, accessories and luggage broaden the shopping trip further.
That mix leaves room for both a practical errand and a little browsing. A shopper looking for shoes might also wander through clothing racks or check the home displays. The appeal lies in having several kinds of purchases under one roof.
The supplied store photos make that variety easy to see. One shows racks of apparel and handbags; another shifts to decorative jars, baskets and wall art. They represent current Bealls stores, rather than a preview of Hillsboro’s exact layout or opening inventory.
At roughly 24,500 square feet, the planned location has a substantial footprint for that broad assortment. It is a full shopping destination with room for multiple departments, well beyond a small specialty shop.
A Fresh Interior for the Former Dirt Cheap
Leasing material for Hillsboro Shopping Center identifies its anchor space as formerly Dirt Cheap. The Bealls project gives that existing retail space another use.
The state project filing describes an interior fit-out with all-new finishes, restrooms, offices and an employee lounge. It also includes a 10-ton rooftop heating and cooling unit.
The project carries an estimated construction cost of $742,000. That figure covers the filed construction work, rather than a complete accounting of inventory, property costs or the retailer’s total investment.
Hills Plaza LLC appears as the property owner, while WBRC Inc. of Lakewood Ranch, Florida, is the design firm. The filing identifies the work as privately funded by the tenant.
When Will Bealls Hillsboro Open?
The filed construction schedule runs from January 4 through April 16, 2027. April 16 is the estimated construction-completion date; a confirmed opening date has not yet been identified.
Meanwhile, the project adds to Hillsboro’s retail changes. TCM previously covered Boot Barn’s plans at the former outlet mall, a separate property. Both stories involve retailers finding new uses for existing shopping space.
For Bealls, the local hook remains unusually memorable. Hillsboro gets a familiar name, a different operator and a fresh use for the former Dirt Cheap. The sign may prompt a double take, but the store behind it starts a new chapter.