Calling all bargain treasure hunters: off-price retailer Burlington plans to land in Champaign.
Another national discount retailer has targeted Champaign in its expansion plans.
Burlington plans to open a store in Champaign’s North Prospect shopping corridor in Spring 2021, a representative confirmed to chambanamoms.com on Tuesday afternoon.
“This store is slated to open in Spring 2021, but as soon as more information becomes available, I will be happy to send,” wrote a company spokesperson on behalf of Burlington, via email.
The chain, which describes itself as a “off-price retailer of high-quality, branded apparel, footwear, accessories, and merchandise for the home,” has more than 700 stores nationwide – and growing.
City of Champaign planning department officials told chambanamoms.com that Burlington has applied for permits to build out roughly half of the space of what was once Gander Mountain, a sporting goods/outdoors speciality retailer.
This is in the same shopping center as Lowe’s (just south) and Target (several doors north), called Champaign Town Center South. The commercial brokers for that center are already touting the arrival of Burlington to market other available space.
The space has been devoid of a consistent tenant since 2017, when Gander Mountain’s bankruptcy reorganization shuttered multiple locations, including the Champaign store at 2006 N. Prospect Ave.
The Champaign Burlington store is in the very early stages of the building permit process.
This will be the third Burlington in Central Illinois; the others are located in Danville and Springfield. There are about two dozen Burlington outlets located in Northern Illinois. The company, which is based in Burlington, New Jersey, has more than 730 stores in 45 states and Puerto Rico.
Burlington is bucking the conventional wisdom of retail, and continues undergoing a massive expansion. It has 24 planned new store openings slated for September, and about a dozen more in October. The company had net sales of $7.3 billion last year.
Burlington used to be known as “Burlington Coat Factory” but rebranded in the late 2000s.
Interested job candidates can learn more about joining the team at www.BurlingtonStores.jobs. No jobs have yet been posted online; typically its stores employ between 50-100 people.
The off-price retailer category includes the likes of TJ Maxx, Ross, Home Goods and Tuesday Morning, all of which have a presence in the North Champaign retail corridor.