Bealls turns 100 this spring

Home Textiles Today Staff //News & Commentary//March 2, 2015

Bradenton, Fla. – Four-generation, family-owned-and-operated Bealls Department Store is preparing for its 100th anniversary in April.

The company opened its doors on April 17, 1915, when founder Robert M. Beall launched a dry-goods store here near the Manatee River. He was 22 years old. Back then it was called “The Dollar Limit,” as all of the merchandise was priced at $1 or less.

Post World War I, inflation rose, forcing Beall to change his strategy and store name to V Dollar Limit, or Five Dollar Limit. He lost his store to the bank during the Great Depression, but stayed on managing it and eventually was able to buy it back.

His son, E.R., joined the company in 1946, and they changed the company’s name to what it is known as today, Bealls Department Store, to reflect its expanded assortment of apparel for the family and home fashions and housewares.

In the 1950s, when “Florida experienced explosive growth,” the company said, Bealls expanded to three locations, and by 1962 it for the first time exceeded $1 million in sales.

Fourth-generation Beall, Matt, who is the son of Bob, came on board in 2004.

Today, Bealls operates 535 stores and posts sales of more than $1 billion annually.