'Retail Genius'

At a glance: Bob Beall
Grandson of Beall's founder Robert M. Beall; son of E.R. Beall

Graduate of the University of Florida, where he was in the ROTC, and New York University, where he earned an M.B.A.

Joined Beall's in 1968, when he took over the Dunedin store.

Was named president in 1980, and CEO and chairman in 1994; remains chairman today

Past chairman of the Florida Chamber of Commerce and was a member of the Florida Council of 100

Currently is on the board of several prominent companies, including Juno Beach-based energy firm NextEra Energy, parent of FP&L SunTrust Banks; and Florida Blue/Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida

Inducted into the Tampa Bay Business Hall of Fame in 1993

Bob Beall's retail career was on a high trajectory in the 1960s — too high.

The son and grandson of Bradenton-based retail entrepreneurs, Beall worked for Bloomingdale's and lived in Manhattan. He and his wife, Aldona Beall, loved life in the big city. But the height of their apartment building is what really got to the young couple.

“We loved New York, but it was getting tiresome,” recalls Beall. “We had a baby and lived in a fifth-floor walk up. There was no washer and dryer and carrying the clothes up and down, the groceries up and down and the kid up and down started to get to us.

“So when my dad called and said 'We are opening our seventh store, would you like to come back and manage it?' I said yes I would.”

That was 1968, and the store was in Dunedin. It was the beginning of a long run at the company for Beall. He was named president in 1980, and CEO and chairman in 1994. He remains chairman today, and while not around all the time, his presence is felt regularly at Beall's, which had $1.29 billion in sales in 2014.

Most people who talk about Beall, 71, talk about how humble he is, to the point where he's sometime overlooked. (One example: Beall, somewhat famously inside company headquarters, initially resisted any hoopla regarding the 100th anniversary.) But from Knopik, who calls him a “retail genius,” to consulting firm EY, formerly Ernst & Young, which named him retail Entrepreneur of the Year in 2015, Beall has clearly left a mark. That mark is on all facets of the company, the entire retail industry and the business community.

“Bob deserves a lot more credit than he ever gets, but that's the way he wants it,” says Beall's Inc. President Dan Love. “What's he accomplished at this company is incredible.”

Knopik says Beall, even with the lofty accomplishments, is someone always eager for more. “Bob has a phenomenal sense of intellectual curiosity,” Knopik says. “If you go out to lunch with Bob, don't expect to talk about the weather. He has an appetite to learn.”

Beall recently sat down with the Business Observer for a rare interview about the company. Here's an edited transcript of the conversation:

If you could pick one reason for the lasting success of Beall's, what would it be?
We started out in the right state. My granddad (Robert M. Beall) was in the provisions business in Georgia with his dad, which means they provided all the supplies for the cotton farmers to bring in crops. That's how they got paid. When the cotton business got hit with boll weevil beetles (in the early 1900s) and the industry was over, they moved. But instead of going to North Dakota or somewhere, thank goodness my granddad decided to come to Florida. And I think that was the first reason we have been successful because Florida has been exceptional state in terms of growth.

What were some the events early on that changed the direction of the company?
We always had the downtown store, from 1915. But after my dad (E.R. Beall) came back from World War II to work with my granddad, Publix came into the downtown store and said, 'We are going to build shopping centers and are going to build one out to the west, on 39th street, and would you like to open a store there?'
My granddad said, No, downtown is where it's always going to be.' And from his perspective, I'm sure that's what it looked like. But my dad said, 'That sounds good to me, we'll go out there.' It was a two-lane road and it was mostly woods. But he went out there and as Publix built additional centers he would go into them when he could get enough money together to open a store. That was a major factor in our success.

What were some of the close calls, when the company struggled?
There were two, and one was before my time. My granddad actually did lose the store to the bank in the Great Depression, in the early 1930s. But the bank didn't want the store, so they allowed him to stay there and work his way out. It took him 10 years or so, but he got the store back.

The only other issue was 2008 and 2009, when we didn't have a big nest egg of cash. We sold our accounts receivables, which turned out to be a really good move, and that brought us some cash. We never lived lavishly. We put most of the money we made back into the growth of the business, so we survived that difficult time.

What mistakes have you made in your career that now standout as a lesson learned?
When we went to open outlet stores, I opened a chain called Just Labels, which was a little upscale and off-price. And it was a disaster. We had three or four stores. It was a little too young, and it was in the wrong locations. So we decided that wasn't going to work and we dumped it. We went back to the idea of a low-priced, off-price chain, which is Beall's Outlet and Burke's Outlet, that would be cheaper than Wal-Mart. That worked well. That was a major turning point, getting the outlet stores going.

What lessons did you learn from your father?
My dad didn't preach or teach. He just set an example to be followed, and following his example has worked well for me.

How has Beall's kept its entrepreneurial, high-values culture throughout the growth of the company?
I honestly don't know. It hasn't been a concerted thing, where we say we have to keep our culture, so we have to do this or that or the other thing. We tend to keep our employees for a long time, and that's probably what's done it, the continuity of the employees.

In addition to the outlet stores, Beall's has placed an emphasis on e-commerce over the last decade, in resources and investment. What will drive success there going ahead?
We've grown fast on a percentage basis since we began, but it's such a small base that we started from that it's taken us a while. Successful private brands are very important to us there because no one can compete with us. Those are working pretty well for us. We will continue to grow and emphasize the private brands business.

What's the future of the department store side of Beall's, given the attention to e-commerce and the outlets?
Beall's is a promotional mid-market department store, like JCPenney or Kohl's, and the recession really took a whack at us. We are starting to recover from that now. We are about to open some stores, which we haven't done for a while. Typically the leases are 10 or 15 years, and when you look forward 10 or 15 years, you're not certain enough to justify the stores.
The last (department) store we opened was in Orlando, in the Loop, which is a large store, around 100,000 square feet on two floors. I think we will open smaller stores than the Loop. We will open stores that are maybe 40,000 or 50,000 square feet.