A sign in the window of the former Bealls, Suite 230, 2212 Island Ave., La Grande, reads 'TJ MAXX B DAVIS' on Tuesday, June 20, 2023.

LA GRANDE — Shoppers in La Grande will have another option later this year.

T.J. Maxx, the nation’s leading off-price retailer with more than 1,200 stores currently operating in 49 states and Puerto Rico, will open in the former location of Bealls in the La Grande Town Center, 2212 Island Ave, according to memorandum of lease filed with the Union County Clerk Office.

“We anticipate that the new T.J. Maxx store in La Grande will open in the future,” Public Relations Manager Katie MacLeod said in a brief statement confirming the opening.

While T.J. Maxx would not release any additional information, MacLeod said the company would announce the grand opening closer to the opening date.

As of Tuesday, June 20, the opening date has not been announced.

Scott Newman, executive director of the Union County Chamber of Commerce, believes that T.J. Maxx will be an added boon for the county. La Grande is a hub for shopping, Newman said, so the more options shoppers have the better.

“I think it’s good,” he said.

While a main focus of the chamber is supporting local businesses, Newman said that chain stores also benefit the community. Local chain retailers can be big employers in the area and also help draw people to the area.

Shopping at local chain retailers also puts more money back into the economy than ordering online, according to Newman. Only about 5-10% of money spent online comes back into the local economy, mostly through the employment of delivery drivers. In comparison, purchases made at local chains bring between 20-40% back into the local economy.

T.J. Maxx is operated by its parent company TJX Companies, which also owns Marshalls, HomeGoods and HomeSense. Last year, TJX Companies did $49.9 billion in sales, according to the company’s 2022 Annual Report. Construction crews are renovating the La Grande Town Center location, vacant since Bealls closed in May 2020. San Jose-based B Davis Inc will be the contractor for the location.

The department store temporarily shut its doors earlier that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and planned to remain closed until the state lifted restrictions.

However, Bealls parent company — Houston-based Stage Stores Inc. — ultimately filed for bankruptcy protection after it was unable to climb out of a financial hole that was only made worse by the pandemic.

Prior to Bealls moving into the building in 2009 the lot was empty for a number of years after Troutman’s Emporium shut its doors in 2003. The Eugene-based clothing retailer filed for bankruptcy in December 2002 and closed all 34 stores the following year.

Dew Claw LLC owns the La Grande Town Center, according to the organization’s parent company Eureka-based Carrington Company. The outdoor mall was previously owned by Phillips-Edison and Company, which it purchased in 2006 from Standard Insurance.

La Grande Town Center houses PetSense, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Big 5 Sporting Goods, Ace Hardware, Dollar Tree, La Grande Liquor Store, Capelli Hair Salon and La Grande Gold & Silver. AnyTime Fitness and Domino’s Pizza occupy a building in the shopping center parking lot, while the former Rite Aid building stands vacant in the parking lot. Rite Aid closed in April after operating the Island Avenue location since the mid-1990s.

Another building — the 2,800 square foot former home of Chen’s Chinese Cuisine — on the west side of the shopping center is vacant. The building is for lease.

The La Grande Town Center was built in 1973.