Discount retailer Burlington is building-out its smaller format in Arlington now that the city issued a permit for the work, which completes the subdivision of the original store into three retail spaces.
The city issued a permit Aug. 14 allowing Able Construction Inc. of Jacksonville to improve space for a 27,308-square-foot Burlington store at a project cost of $1.11 million at 9824 Atlantic Blvd. in Regency Plaza in Arlington.
The permit is the final one to carve the 81,000-square-foot discount retailer into stores for an AutoZone MegaHub, the Burlington prototype and a future retailer.
Plans label the Burlington project as “2024 Prototype – 25K.”
Burlington, a big-box off-price retailer that sells apparel, decor and other merchandise, had long leased about 81,000 square feet of space in the shopping center at southeast Atlantic Boulevard and Live Oak Drive near Regency Square Mall.
The retailer already had downsized into almost 50,000 square feet, freeing up space for AutoZone.
The city issued a permit April 9 for HJB Construction Inc. of Charleston, South Carolina, to build-out 31,460 square feet for an AutoZone MegaHub store.
About 22,200 square feet now is available for another tenant.
Six sign permits for Burlington include a banner that says “We’re remodeling. Come take a peek.”
A permanent sign on the store would say “Burlington Deals. Brands. Wow!”
Because Burlington is remaining at the center, it intends to continue operating throughout the construction process.
A Regency Plaza leasing brochure by CBRE Retail Specialist Lara Bahri Higgs shows the spaces in round numbers with Burlington down to 28,000 square feet, a third of its original size.
The brochure shows available square footage at 22,500 and the AutoZone space as 30,000 square feet.
The construction plans show the Regency Plaza landlord as America’s Realty LLC of Maple Heights, Ohio. The project manager is Onyx Creative of Cleveland.
The 210,000-square-foot Regency Plaza is anchored by OfficeMax, Chuck E. Cheese and dd’s Discounts.
Burlington Stores Inc., headquartered in New Jersey, has six area stores in Gateway Town Center, Argyle Village Shopping Center, Regency Plaza, Old St. Augustine Plaza, River City Marketplace and Saint Johns.
The downsizing was expected. Burlington says on burlington.com that its preferred size ranges from 18,000 to 30,000 square feet.
Its newer area stores are in the 24,000- to 25,000-square-foot range.
Burlington says in an investor presentation dated May 2025 that its Burlington 2.0 goals include smaller stores.
Trade website CREDaily.com reported Jan. 31, 2025, that Burlington is cutting store sizes by nearly 80%.
The site said that with a strategy to open 400 net new stores over the next four years, Burlington is competing with larger rivals, like Ross Stores and TJX Cos., whose banners include T.J. Maxx and Marshalls.
The site says that at Burlington’s newer locations, “the days of sprawling, cluttered big-box stores are over.”
It reported that a typical new Burlington store now spans 18,000 square feet, less than 20% the size of its old locations.
“In this revamped format, merchandise is neatly arranged, and customers can more easily navigate aisles to find bargains.”