Homesense To Open In Bel Air

BEL AIR, MD — Homesense, a furniture and home decor store operating under the umbrella of TJX Companies, will be opening in Bel Air. The store is set to open where Toys R Us used to be in the Tollgate Marketplace.

Homesense should be "up and operating by the fourth quarter," according to Ann Smith, an executive with Retail Properties of America, which owns the shopping center.

"The lease has been signed," she told Patch on Wednesday, May 15.

Tollgate Marketplace is also set to welcome another tenant next door. Sprouts Farmers Market is readying for a July opening in what used to be the hhgregg store, adjacent to where Homesense will set up shop.

Sprouts is taking over 33,000 square feet and Homesense will occupy 30,000 square feet in the shopping center on US 1 at MD 24, which also contains Michael's, Barnes & Noble and ULTA, among other destinations.

When it opens, Homesense will offer furniture, a rug emporium, lighting department and general store featuring everything from hardware to storage accessories. Customers will also be able to shop for seasonal items like outdoor entertaining must-haves and holiday décor as well as artwork, decorative accessories and gift-wrapping essentials.

The Canadian-based store recently launched in the United States; there are fewer than 25 Homesense locations across Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

The first Homesense in Maryland opened in June 2018 in Columbia, followed by an Annapolis store in September 2018. When it arrives, the Bel Air Homesense will be the third in the state.

Typically, the company does not announce stores until closer to the opening date. As such, it has not made its plans about Bel Air public.

"Homesense has not announced a new store in the Bel Air, MD, area," Public Relations Manager for Homesense Joanna Howarth said in a statement to Bel Air Patch on Thursday, May 16.

"When opening new stores, we tend to announce our plans when we believe the time is right to do so competitively," Howarth said. "Generally speaking, it is our practice not to announce store openings until close to an intended opening date."

Since summer 2018, the Toys R Us storefront in Tollgate Marketplace has been quiet, after the toy company declared bankruptcy, shuttering all of its locations. Bel Air said goodbye to its Toys R Us at the end of June.

Soon the scenery is likely to change, as Homesense makes itself "at home" in Bel Air.

The plan is for Homesense to fashion its location to fit its prototype, according to Smith.

"They’ll be doing their typical build-out within their space," she said.

Here is what the Columbia store looks like:

_{Photos by Elizabeth Janney.}

SEE ALSO:

• Sprouts Sets Opening Date In Bel Air
• Bel Air Toys R Us Closes