An 18-month test initiated by Bealls Inc. has ended successfully with the creation of a chain called Home Centric, the first of which opened this May in Cary, N.C. Bealls operates over 530 stores across 16 states as well as online. Aware of strong and growing sales within its home furniture/decor departments and the fact that “there weren’t a lot of choices out there for off-price home products,” the company decided to expand the home department into a store within a store, says Karen Filips, director of communications and community affairs for Bealls Inc.
“All the stores where we have expanded the home division have done very well,” she says. That led management to begin developing free-standing stores: Home Centric targets adults moving into new homes, changing the décor in their existing homes or just searching for something new and reasonably priced to brighten up their homes.
At an average 15,000 square feet, Home Centric’s product mix includes both brand and private label products for furniture, wall décor, rugs, lamps, housewares, bed and bath —“everything you need to outfit a home, and selling at 70 percent discounts.”
Home Centric is “where people are inspired to make where they live into a home,” Filips says.
The floors are wood laminate and the fixtures are simple to allow the products to pop. Endcaps typically feature colorful themes such as nautical products in stores near lakes or farm-themed decorative items. “The themes help people get a vision for how to display the products in their homes,” Filips says.
One standalone Home Centric will open this fall in Tennessee; a third will open in next spring in Florida. Five in total are projected for the end of 2019; eight additional store-within-store Home Centrics are planned for next year.
Home Centric
Parent company: Bealls Inc.
Bradenton, Fla.
Locations: 1