Goody’s department store, which previously failed at two Moore County locations, apparently hopes that taking smaller space at Sandhills Shopping Center off U.S. 1 in Aberdeen will make a difference.

Stage Stores Inc., which acquired the “Goody’s” name through the Goody’s bankruptcy auction in July 2009, has signed a lease for the 15,000-square-foot space next to the Food Lion grocery store formerly occupied by Party Poopers, said Tom Wallace, leasing director for Primax Properties in Charlotte.

“We’re excited to have Goody’s,” Wallace said. “I think they’ll be a good addition to the shopping center. We’ve got a good mix of tenants.”

Wallace said Primax Construction, a subsidiary of Primax Properties, is up-fitting the space in hopes of turning it over to Goody’s to being installing its fixtures and merchandise by Oct. 1 so the company can open in early November.

“We’ve got a pretty aggressive schedule, but we think we’re on course to meet their requirements,” he said. “Otherwise, we’d be looking at spring 2013.”

Patrick Coughlin, president and CEO of the Moore County Chamber of Commerce, said opening in time for the critical holiday shopping is a good strategy.

“I think Goody’s is trying to establish themselves in the market for the next year,” Coughlin said. “I think they see that there is a great market here for them. They just needed to find not only the right location but the right size for them. I think the smaller-scale store is going to set them up for success.”

Goody’s operated in more than 32,000 square feet of space at Pinecrest Plaza Shopping Center in Southern Pines until January 2009, when the Tennessee-based former owner of the retail chain failed to emerge from bankruptcy and closed almost 300 stores, most of which were in the Southeast.

Stage Stores closed the 30,000-square-foot Goody’s at Center Park Shopping Center in Aberdeen earlier this year. The store was open for less than a year, and that space is now slated to become Dicks’s Sporting Goods.

“I’m not sure what led them to leaving Center Park, but obviously things in the economy were not up and running for corporate America as well as they could have been at the time,” Coughlin said. “As Moore County becomes more of a regional shopping, dining and entertainment hub, I think Goody’s saw that they were missing an opportunity.”

He noted that Goody’s has always been a Chamber member.

“They understand that they have to be part of the community if they want to be successful in the community,” Coughlin said. “We’re glad to have them back.”

Stage Stores, which is headquartered in Houston, offers moderately priced, nationally recognized brand name and private label apparel, accessories, cosmetics and footwear through more than 830 stores in 40 states. In addition to Peebles and Goody’s, the company operates its stores under the brand names Bealls, Palais Royal, Stage and Steele’s.

In the highly competitive retail industry, Stage Stores’ principal focus is on consumers in small to mid-size markets.

About 65 percent of its stores are in communities of less than 50,000 residents. Nineteen percent are in communities between 50,000 and 150,000 people, and the remaining 16 percent are in metropolitan areas.

The company’s primary target customers are women who are generally 25 and older with annual household incomes of more than $45,000, who the company believes are the primary decision makers for their family’s clothing purchases.

Stage Stores reported net income for the second quarter ended July 28 of $11.7 million, or 37 cents per diluted share; second-quarter sales of $382 million, compared with $353 million for the same period last year; and a 5.4 percent increase in comparable store sales for the quarter.

For the first six months of the fiscal year, the company reported total sales of $747 million and a comparable store sales increase of 4 percent.

“Strong full-price sales and lower markdowns resulted in higher average prices, and benefited both sales and merchandise margins in the quarter,” Michael Glazer, president and CEO of Stage Stores, said in a statement. “Heading into the back half of the year, we are encouraged by the momentum behind the business.”

Contact Ted M. Natt Jr. at (910) 693-2474 or tnatt@the pilot.com.