Bealls’ official grand opening in The Marketplace of Warsaw drew a line before 9 a.m. Friday, including four women from Fort Wayne.
Marianne Filosa, Fort Wayne, was in line with three of her friends - Cathy, Susan and Deb Harvey - at 7:56 a.m. She said they came because Deb, also of Fort Wayne, had her birthday earlier this week.
“We were here at Gabe’s a couple weeks ago shopping, and we saw this was going to be opening so we decided to come here,” she stated.
The women said they don’t have a bealls (pronounced bells) in Fort Wayne. “So if bealls would bring a bealls to Fort Wayne, we wouldn’t have to come to Warsaw.”
They arrived early because they wanted one of the gift cards being handed out.

    People were in line for the grand opening of bealls in The Marketplace of Warsaw as early as 7 a.m. Friday. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

“In Fort Wayne, they would have been here last night. If it was something free, oh yeah! They would have spent the night in Fort Wayne,” she said.
The women, however, weren’t the first ones in line. That was Nicholas Leavitt, of Warsaw, his honorary daughter, Kim Engle, and her fiance, Noah Cain, who arrived at about 7 a.m.
“We wanted to make sure we were first in line,” Leavitt said.
They first stopped in bealls on Wednesday to check it out.
“Honestly, not bad! They’ve got some really nice stuff,” he said.
Store Manager Jean Hilbert said bealls has name brand items at discounted prices.
“We have men’s, children’s, ladies, juniors, home, pet, shoes. We have it all,” she said.
There are 600 bealls throughout the United States with more opening. “They started out in Florida and they’re bringing them up to the Midwest,” she said.
The Warsaw store at 2856 Frontage Road is about 25,000 square feet. Hilbert said it’s probably one of the bigger ones up here with only three bealls in northern Indiana. There’s stores in Columbia City and Plymouth. “Plymouth is big, also, but this one is a little bit bigger.”
While bealls has been open all week, it had its ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce at 8:45 a.m. Friday. “And then we’re giving away gift cards and things like that this weekend,” Hilbert said, with the gift cards ranging from $5 to $50. There’s a chance for shoppers to win a $100 gift card each day.
“If they sign up for credit, they get a canvas bag and they save 10%. And we have a great rewards program - it’s our bealls rewards. Every $100 you spend, you get $5 back and you get a 20% discount to use one time during your birthday month. And it’s free,” she said.
Bealls’ hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday; 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. During the holiday season, they will have extended hours.
Hilbert said they’re hiring seasonal workers now.
“We’re just very excited to be a part of the bealls family and be here in Warsaw,” she stated.
Learn more about bealls at https://www.bealls.com/ and about the Warsaw location specially at https://stores.bealls.com/in/warsaw/clothing-store-893.html