Burlington is preparing to expand its brick-and-mortar footprint in Southwest Houston by backfilling a recently vacated big-box retail space. The off-price department store chain, which has outlined plans to add 115 new locations by 2028, has selected a former Conn’s HomeStore as its next Houston-area site, targeting a corridor characterized by heavy retail activity.
The new store is planned at 8201 S Gessner Drive within the Gessner Center, a shopping destination in Southwest Houston. Burlington has committed to a commercial renovation of the existing structure, stepping into a space that had been left empty following corporate bankruptcies affecting prior occupants. The move reflects continued demand for large-format retail boxes from value-focused retailers, even as some big-box concepts have retrenched.
The project calls for a significant interior remodel of the existing building to convert it into a Burlington-branded store. The work will encompass approximately 39,774 square feet, transforming the single-tenant box to accommodate Burlington’s off-price merchandising format. The interior scope will be geared toward repositioning the property for high-volume soft goods and home-related retail, aligning the space with the chain’s operational and display requirements.
Once completed, the location is expected to deliver Burlington’s familiar treasure-hunt shopping experience to customers in the surrounding area. The retailer plans to offer discounted apparel, home goods, and accessories from this store, building on the chain’s strategy of drawing price-sensitive shoppers seeking brand-name products at reduced prices. The site sits within a dense retail corridor near the Southwest Freeway, positioning the store to tap into established traffic patterns and a broad regional customer base.
Construction on the renovation is scheduled to begin on February 1, 2027. The project timeline anticipates substantial completion by late summer, with a targeted finish date of August 6, 2027. With the former Conn’s HomeStore now slated for active use again, the redevelopment will convert a dark big-box unit back into an income-producing retail asset and restore another national tenant presence to the Gessner Center.
By absorbing a shuttered big-box space in a heavily trafficked retail area, Burlington’s planned opening underscores how off-price retailers continue to identify opportunities in second-generation space. The project demonstrates how existing large-format shells can be remodeled to support new retail concepts, potentially shortening delivery timelines compared with ground-up construction while helping to reduce visible vacancy in established shopping corridors.
