Teen clothing store filling another empty space at Madonna Plaza in SLO

Another new store is coming into Madonna Plaza in San Luis Obispo, further filling in the area of the shopping center that was long occupied by Sears.

Teen retailer Tilly’s is filling the last space that used to be part of venerable department store, occupying a new 6,500-square-foot space next to Michaels.

Commercial Realtor Phillip Kyle confirmed that Tilly’s will open here but said the timetable for opening is not yet known.

The Tilly’s logo is all on Kyle’s company website site plan next to Michaels.

Tilly’s is a publicly traded specialty retailer of casual apparel, footwear and accessories for young men, young women, boys and girls with an extensive assortment of branded merchandise.

The California-based company is headquartered in Irvine and operates 244 stores across 33 states. The closest Tilly’s currently is in Santa Maria.

The company started out as World of Jeans and Tops in 1982, and its first retail store was in Los Alamitos.

According to the website Business News Bill in 1992, in an odd coincidence, the company opened its first Tilly’s named clothing store in San Luis Obispo, which later closed.

This addition follows word of the two new businesses that will be filling the former Petco building. Tenant improvements are continuing there for Party City and Five Below, both of which are new to town.

Also new in the center, Dave’s Hot Chicken is now in the former Panera Bread location, after that restaurant closed its doors last year due to the pandemic.

All these new tenants including Tilly’s target SLO’s younger shoppers.

John Lindt is the editor of the news website Sierra2theSea.net.