A baby-goods retail chain called buybuy BABY, owned by Bed Bath & Beyond, is scheduled to open this spring in South Jacksonville.
Buybuy BABY will open in the Timberlin Village center at 8801 Southside Blvd., near The Avenues Mall, according to a sign at the closed Borders store there.
Spokeswoman Danielle Sherman confirmed Monday that the baby-goods chain will open in about 25,000 square feet of space, but declined to provide the location.
A sign outside Borders says buybuy BABY is “coming soon.”
Sherman said the company does not discuss employment numbers.
“As we continue to grow and open stores, we are always looking for new locations,” Sherman said in an email Monday.
“We are very excited to be coming there.”
Buybuy BABY was founded in 1996 and acquired by Bed Bath & Beyond in 2007, she said. Buybuy BABY operates more than 60 stores that range in size from 28,000 to 60,000 square feet, she said.
Bed Bath & Beyond, based in Union, N.J., operates several chains, including almost 1,000 Bed Bath & Beyond stores and six in the Jacksonville area.
One of those is at Timberlin Village. Property records show that a Bed Bath & Beyond company bought the shopping center for $13.5 million in October.
Records show that BBB Timberlin LLC bought the property from Brothers Five of Jacksonville, whose president is developer Toney Sleiman.
BBB Timberlin LLC’s managing member is Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., according to state corporate records filed in October.
Information on the Sleiman Enterprises website shows that Timberlin Village consists of Bed Bath & Beyond, at 35,000 square feet; OfficeMax, at 23,500 square feet; PetSmart, at 26,280 square feet; the vacant 25,000-square-foot Borders store and another vacant store of 14,157 square feet.
Records show the site at almost 10.5 acres.
According to Sleiman Enterprises, there are 118,788 people living within five miles of the site and a projected population of 130,932 by 2015. It shows 51,694 households, income of $82,157 and an average age of 37.2 years.
According to Sherman and the buybuy BABY website, the store offers nursery and children’s furniture; infant and convertible car seats, booster seats, strollers and accessories; feeding, nursing, bath, health and safety departments along with everyday essentials; toys, activity centers, learning and development products; clothing and accessories for preemies, infants and toddlers; and seasonal items and holiday merchandise.
Its website is www.buybuybaby.com.
Founded in 1971, Bed Bath & Beyond is a chain of retail stores operating under the names Bed Bath & Beyond in the United States and Canada, as well as Christmas Tree Shops, Harmon, Harmon Face Values and buybuy BABY in the United States.
The company also operates in Mexico through a joint venture under the name “Home & More.”
The company sells domestics merchandise and home furnishings as well as food, giftware, health and beauty care items and infant and toddler merchandise.
The company’s stores range in size from 20,000 to 50,000 square feet, with some larger than 80,000 square feet.
According to its website, Bed Bath & Beyond had a total of 1,171 stores, including 993 Bed Bath & Beyond stores in the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Canada, 71 Christmas Tree Shops stores, 61 buybuy BABY stores and 46 stores under the names of Harmon or Harmon Face Values.
Since the beginning of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 on Nov. 27, the company has opened one buybuy BABY store and closed one Harmon store.
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