A major homeware retailer will open its doors in Dubuque next month.

HomeGoods will host its grand opening at Kennedy Mall at 8 a.m. on May 9, according to a press release. The new store occupies the spaces that formerly housed multiple other Kennedy Mall tenants, including Books-A-Million.

“We are so pleased to get HomeGoods open,” said Joe Bell, director of corporate communications for Cafaro Co., which owns and manages Kennedy Mall. “There have been customers coming up to our mall staff on a regular basis for the past few months asking, ‘When is that store going to open?’”

HomeGoods is one of the major retailers under TJX Cos., which also operates stores such as T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and Sierra. A Sierra location opened in November at Dubuque’s Asbury Plaza, a majority of which also is owned by Cafaro Co., and T.J.Maxx operates a location at 2591 Northwest Arterial.

The more than 900 HomeGoods locations across the U.S. sell a variety of homeware and decor items, including furniture, rugs, lighting, bedding, pet accessories, storage products, outdoor items and more.

A press release issued by HomeGoods on Friday states that the retailer’s prices generally fall 20% to 60% below full-price retailers’ regular prices on comparable merchandise.

“Our new store in Dubuque offers shoppers an ever-changing selection of high-quality, on-trend and brand-name merchandise at the amazing prices HomeGoods is known for,” HomeGoods Marketing Specialist Arielle Abramek wrote in an email to the Telegraph Herald. “Our buyers create a unique mix that offers values in countless styles for every room of the house, and we’re excited to offer this experience to the shoppers of Dubuque.“

The release also notes that HomeGoods will celebrate its grand opening by presenting a $10,000 donation to Boys & Girls Club of Greater Dubuque.

Mall officials announced in February 2023 that HomeGoods would open a location at the mall. Bell said Friday that conversations between Cafaro Co. and TJX Cos. had been ongoing for several years prior to that announcement.

“Sometimes these conversations will go on for a very long time before these potential tenants in our centers say, ‘Well, that space makes sense for us,’” he said. “One of our vice presidents has a close relationship with (TJX Cos.), and they are always talking about places where it might be a good fit to put one of their particular retail establishments.”

Abramek wrote that the retailer is “continuously assessing (its) real estate strategies,” and the decision to open a store in Dubuque was part of that process.

The store’s arrival necessitated some movement and remodeling at the mall. Books-A-Million moved from its original space to make way for HomeGoods, with the bookstore reopening in a portion of the former Younkers space in the mall in August 2023.

“(Books-A-Million) didn’t necessarily need to be in (the space) where they had been, and we figured out that we could shift them to another space a little further down the concourse … and that space they vacated would work very well for HomeGoods,” Bell said.

In addition to the former bookstore space, the 24,177-square-foot HomeGoods store also occupies four adjacent vacant spaces that previously housed Great American Cookies, Merle Norman Cosmetics, Lids and Captured on Canvas. Captured on Canvas moved to a new location in the mall, while Merle Norman Cosmetics moved offsite.

“In any shopping center, you want to have the right mixture of all kinds of businesses, whether it be a boutique or a big box store or an eatery or a professional office,” Bell said. “HomeGoods is very popular, no matter where they go in America, and we know it will probably be very popular in Dubuque.”

When HomeGoods’ arrival was announced in February 2023, officials said the retailer would open at the mall within the next 12 months. Bell said Friday that minor construction delays pushed back the timeline.

Molly Grover, president and CEO of Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce, said she is confident the store will be “worth the wait.”

“Increasing the access to more retail offerings is a win for people that live, work, play and do business in the area, and it is certainly a welcomed asset at the Kennedy Mall,” she said. “We’re thrilled to welcome HomeGoods to our community.”

She noted that the store’s opening also will create jobs in the community. The HomeGoods location expects to fill approximately 65 full- and part-time positions, according to the release.

Regular hours of operation will be 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. However, on May 9, HomeGoods will be open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., according to the release.