Burlington Stores Inc. intends to open May 15 at St. Johns Town Center, bringing its new format to the former Joann Inc. fabric and craft store space.
The Burlington, New Jersey-based national off-price retailer said in a May 5 news release it will be the 127th store to open in the state.
Burlington will open at 10261 River Marsh Drive, Suite 149. The city issued a permit Nov. 25, 2025, for the $1.65 million renovation of the 35,367-square-foot store between Lane Bryant and PetSmart.
The ribbon-cutting is scheduled 8:45 a.m. with giveaways and a school donation. A grand-opening celebration is planned for May 15-16.
The store will open at 9 a.m. daily, closing at 11 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 10 p.m. Sunday.
Burlington sells clothing, accessories and footwear for men, women, juniors and children; baby items; beauty and fragrance products; home decor; toys; and pet care.
Originally known as a coat retailer, Burlington expanded to offer branded merchandise at up to 60% off other retailers’ prices, it says.
Burlington Stores said in the news release that the location features its “reimagined store design” that is part of its strategy to modernize stores to include wider, more organized aisles and stronger signage for easier navigation.
It said that while more than half of its existing locations have been converted, the remaining stores are expected to transition by the end of 2026.
The Burlington store in the Regency area is one of those.
As of Jan. 31, 2026, the end of its fiscal year 2025, the company said it operated 1,212 stores in 46 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, principally under the name Burlington Stores.
All Joann Inc. stores shut down after the company auctioned its assets in February 2025 after filing the month before for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The Town Center store, along Town Center Parkway at northwest Interstate 295 and Butler Boulevard in South Jacksonville, is Burlington’s seventh in Northeast Florida.
Its other six area stores are in Argyle Village Shopping Center, Gateway Town Center, Old St Augustine Plaza, Regency Plaza, River City Marketplace and Saint Johns.
While the St. Johns Town Center store is larger, Burlington says on burlington.com that its preferred size ranges from 18,000 to 30,000 square feet.
Burlington is downsizing its Regency Plaza store by two-thirds, creating space for two more retailers, including AutoZone.
Burlington leased at least 80,500 square feet of space at 9824 Atlantic Blvd. in the shopping center at southeast Atlantic Boulevard and Live Oak Drive near Regency Square Mall in Arlington.
A brochure by CBRE Retail Specialist Lara Bahri Higgs shows Burlington down to 28,000 square feet – a third of its original size.
Work continues to subdivide the Regency store into three spaces – one for a smaller Burlington, one for a new AutoZone and another for a future retailer.
The retailer already has downsized into almost 50,000 square feet, freeing up space for AutoZone.
In the latest move, the city issued a permit Feb. 27 for the landlord to divide the 49,733-square-foot Burlington into 27,308 square feet for the retailer and 22,425 square feet for a future tenant.
The city is reviewing a permit for Burlington to build-out its eventual smaller store at a cost of $1.1 million.
Burlington says its newer area stores are in the 24,000- to 25,000-square-foot range.
It said 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% as it competes with larger rivals, like Ross Stores and TJX Cos., whose banners include T.J. Maxx and Marshalls.
The site said that at Burlington’s newer locations, “the days of sprawling, cluttered big-box stores are over.”
“In this revamped format, merchandise is neatly arranged, and customers can more easily navigate aisles to find bargains.”