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BLACKFOOT — Before the summer is over Bingham County residents will be able to shop for name brand clothing they now can find only by traveling to Idaho Falls or Pocatello.
 Morning News - Emily Hone
The exterior of the new Bealls store is shown.
A Bealls department store is under construction at the Riverside Plaza and projected to be open for business by the end of this month, with a grand opening scheduled for July 31 and grand opening sales through Aug. 4.
Trinity Construction of Houston is general contractor, with MBA of Blackfoot as construction manager of the store being built by Stage Stores Inc.
Robert Fleming of Trinity is in charge of construction, and says his firm was hired because they’ve built Bealls stores all over the country for the Bell family that owns Stage Stores Inc.
“They started in Florida and are working their way into the Northeast and the Northwest,” Fleming said. “They’re very popular stores.”
He said a Bealls store is under construction in Burley, and stores are being planned in Wyoming and Montana. “There will be other locations in Idaho as well.”
Fleming said he brought some of his workers from Texas with him, but is using local subcontractors wherever possible. Snake /River Electric got the wiring contract, and the painting went to a local contractor also.
Joy Nelson, who managed the Pocatello Dillard’s store that closed this summer, will manage the new store.
She has already hired 50 people locally to help get the store stocked and ready to open, Nelson said, and 10 to 15 of them will be retained on a full or part-time basis, depending on their needs and the store’s.
Nelson said Bealls will offer the latest fashions as well as tried and true classics in top name brands at great prices.
“Our clothing is good quality, but in the mid-price range,” she said. “Higher than Wal-Mart but a little lower than Dillards, and it’s going to mean convenience and great buys for local residents. They won’t have to drive so far to buy clothing.”
Nelson said for one-stop shopping convenience, the store will have Misses and Juniors, Petites and Ladies clothing as well as plus sizes. It will have a men’s clothing department, shoes, fragrances, accessories and a Home Accents department all under the same roof.
It will carry brands such as Rafaella, Requirements, Liz Claiborne, Elizabeth Arden, Levis, Dockers, Izod, U.S. Polo Assn., Chaps, Hagar, Van Heusen, South Pole, New Balance, Reebok, Nike, Skechers, Carter’s and many more.
There are no plans at present for a cosmetics counter, Nelson said, but it could happen if the demand is there.
In addition to great values on brand names, Nelson said, customers age 50 and over can enroll in an exclusive discount program, and all shoppers can sign up to receive e-mail alerts for upcomimg sales and events.
Customers will also have access to a store-branded credit card and VIP Rewards program, which offers invitations to exclusive savings events, free gift wrapping and more, based on annual credit card purchases. Cardholders also will receive bonus savings coupons by mail.
Nelson and Fleming both said they have heard many positive comments about the store coming to Blackfoot. “People are excited that they’re going to have a clothing store right in town,” Nelson said.
The store occupies the space that was formerly O’Dell’s Furniture, but Fleming said MBA is having the adjacent buildings fitted with new facades to match that of Bealls.
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