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September 3, 2010

Goody's coming back to Cullman

Retail store re-launcing in old space

By Trent Moore The Cullman Times

CULLMAN — What’s old is new again.

A new Goody’s clothing retail store is set to open in Cullman this November. The announcement comes just a year and a half after the old Goody’s store in the Marketplatz Shopping Center shut down when the corporate owner declared bankruptcy.

The new Goody’s is being opened by Stage Stores, the company that purchased some Goody’s assets after a bankruptcy auction in early 2009.

“We’ll be re-opening under that nameplate,” Stage Stores representative Stan Witherow said.

Witherow added the store should still look familiar to shoppers who loved the old Goody’s.

“It’s very similar to how things used to be,” he said. “It’s a nice, new look for Goody’s. We’re back, but a little different.”

Experienced shoppers should have no trouble finding the store once it opens on November 3 — as Goody’s is returning to it’s original 30,000-square-foot location in the Town Square Shopping Center, where it was a tenant for several years before moving to the space at Marketplatz. The Town Square storefront is currently vacant, while the location Goody’s once held at Marketplatz has since been filled with a TJ Maxx store.

“We’ve tried for years and years to get this company [Stage Stores] in, and we’re finishing up a few little things on the lease agreement now and expect it to go through soon,” Jason Grimmett, with the firm that owns the shopping center, Drinkard Development, said. “We’re excited about this and it should bring a lot of jobs in. We expect them to do really well here.”

Considering the current economic recession, officials with the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce believe the opening is just another positive sign that the local job market is still alive and well. The new Goody’s is expected to employ around 15 people at first, with more possible if the re-launch is a success.

“Retail development seems to be producing a positive forecast on the Cullman area,” chamber business development director Jessica M. Waldrop said. “I believe that our community will soon receive a heightened economic outcome from the additions of TJ Maxx, Goody’s and several unique storefronts located in the heart of Cullman.”

Stage Stores has been using the Goody’s name in select markets for the past year, after virtually every original Goody’s store shuttered in early 2009. The Cullman store is one of around 35 new locations the Texas-based company hopes to open nationwide this year. Stage Stores manages more than 770 retail shops in 39 states across the country, including Peebles, Bealls and Palais Royal locations.



‰ Trent Moore can be reached by e-mail at trentm@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 220.

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