BRADENTON HERALD EDITORIAL | Bealls Company, family are valuable community assets
This year's centennial celebration of Bradenton's most dynamic commercial enterprise is a showcase for the dedication, determination and drive of the Beall family. Ever since R.M. Beall showed some pluck by opening a dry goods store downtown in 1915 at the young age of 22, the family survived setbacks and earned enviable achievements.
As one of the oldest family owned and operated department stories in the country, Bealls has achieved greater success and growth than any of those other retail operations.
From a small regional chain of 18 stores in 1979, today Bealls' portfolio features 535 department and outlet stores spread across the southern and eastern United States.
Over the years, Bealls' annual sales surged -- from $38 million in 1980 to more than $1 billion today.
As the Herald has been documenting over the past week, Bealls has a remarkable history -- one highlighted by corporate independence, employee dedication and community commitment.
In a tribute to that, the president and chief executive of the National Retail Federation, Matthew Shay, told the Herald:
"The Beall family has built one of the most recognizable and respectable retail brands in the industry, and there is no question that much of that success has come from generations of hard work, the establishment of a family-centered culture, and the company's commitment to their customers and the communities they serve."
The Beall family established that tradition during its early years. Even after losing the downtown Bradenton store to a bank during the Great Depression, the family rebounded while still managing the store.
Saving money for eight years, they paid off the note in 1940 and began writing new chapters in a family success story.
Business never as usual
In the nothing ventured, nothing gained mold, Bealls has launched a variety of new retail concepts. While most failed to attract a strong customer base, the company learned invaluable lessons. Never discouraged, the family opened the first Bealls Outlet in 1987 in the wake of one of those failures and discovered a wealth of customers. While Florida is home to the chain's only department stores, outlets are ubiquitous in southern and eastern states -- totalling some 460 across the company's entire footprint.
Today, Bealls is preparing to launch another new concept, called Bunulu (boo-new-lou). The boutique will focus on upscale coastal lifestyle products for women with the first shops opening this coming fall.
Never one to sit still, the company is planning changes in the future, with smaller department stores that will feature a fresh layout that organizes merchandise by lifestyle.
The outlet chain will expand with the addition of about 20 to 30 stores a year opening outside Florida. A stronger focus on online retailing is in the works, too, to be more competitive in e-commerce.
Bealls' tremendous success has attracted a number of buy-out offers. The family, however, stuck to its philosophy of reinvesting earnings into the business, a unique and commendable business model in an era where profits are more often funneled into outsized executive salaries and investor bonanzas.
Philanthropic commitment
The Beall Family of Foundations, an umbrella organization for the three separate Beall philanthropic endeavors, has been community benefactors since the first one began in 1987. The family commitment to causes, though, can be traced back to World War I and II when store advertising encouraged the purchase of war bonds and enlistment in the military.
Even earlier, R.M. Beall broadened his civic outreach by becoming a charter member of the Kiwanis Club of Bradenton in 1922, the same year he began serving a two-year stint on the Bradenton City Council.
The foundations continue the family tradition of community service via academic scholarships, including to children of Bealls employees; financial support to nonprofits dedicated to youth and education, especially in disadvantaged neighborhoods; and aid in the aftermath of natural disasters all reflect a mission to provide a helping hand to those in need.
The family also gave Bradenton an enduring asset that stands as a monument to R.M. Beall, whose love of baseball first brought spring training to the city in 1923 after he convinced the St. Louis Cardinals owner to relocate here. McKechnie Field was built with a major league assist from Beall.
A sign of significance
One of the highlights of the Bealls centennial celebration will come soon. The city plans to place a historical marker near the original store site and a mural will be painted on the north wall of the building that houses McAbe's Irish Pub, Main Street Market and other businesses. Dates have yet to be set.
The Beall family has been a community treasure for generations and the future looks bright, too. Bradenton is a better place for all they contribute to the area's quality of life.
Our hearty congratulations on your centennial, and we eagerly await the dedication date of the marker to enshrine the Beall family place in history.
This story was originally published March 8, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "BRADENTON HERALD EDITORIAL | Bealls Company, family are valuable community assets."