Marshalls to open at Kennedy Mall in Dubuque

• BY ELIZABETH KELSEY elizabeth.kelsey@thmedia.com

September 25, 2025

A popular off-price retailer is set to open at Kennedy Mall in Dubuque next summer.

Marshalls will open its doors at the mall in summer 2026 and will occupy a 24,000-square-foot space next to the Books-A-Million store, according to Joe Bell, director of corporate communications at Cafaro Co., which owns Kennedy Mall and Asbury Plaza.

“We’ve been carving out the space for it, and we’re really excited to have Marshalls coming into the marketplace,” Bell said.

Marshalls is owned by TJX Companies, which also operates T.J. Maxx, HomeGoods, Sierra, and HomeSense.

With the anticipated arrival of Marshalls, Dubuque will boast four of those five retailers. T.J. Maxx has operated at Asbury Plaza since 2013, and 10 years later, in 2023, outdoor retailer Sierra followed suit and opened at Asbury Plaza.

Last year, homeware retailer HomeGoods opened a location at Kennedy Mall, occupying a space that formerly housed multiple other Kennedy Mall tenants, including Books-A-Million.

The bookseller moved from its original space to make way for HomeGoods and reopened in a portion of the former Younkers department store.

Now, another portion of what used to be Younkers will house Marshalls.

“We have a very good relationship with the TJX Companies,” Bell said. “This is something that our people have been discussing with Marshalls for quite a while, and their people agree that the Dubuque marketplace is a good place to be for retail.”

There are currently over 1,200 Marshalls stores in the United States, a press release states.

 

According to the release, Marshalls offers brand-name, designer and other high-quality clothes, shoes, accessories, beauty products and home decor at lower prices than regular department and specialty stores. Each Marshalls store receives different shipments of items each week.

Bell said renovations will likely begin soon to prepare the new Marshalls space.

“Right now, what we have is just the shell of what used to be a department store,” he said. “We’re going to be creating walls for the individual store space.”

While a precise opening date for the store has not been set, Bell said Marshalls officials aim to open the doors “early next summer.”

Rick Dickinson, president and CEO of Greater Dubuque Development Corp., praised Cafaro Co.’s efforts to attract and retain retailers for its Dubuque properties.

“Cafaro’s just done a great job in very difficult times to keep the Kennedy Mall strong and viable, and the more retail we have, the better off we are,” Dickinson said. “They’re really always working it, and we appreciate that.”

Last year, GDDC contracted with consultant Retail Strategies, which put together a report with recommended ways for Dubuque officials to entice additional retail businesses to town.

“They’ve really been focusing on analyzing our market and the buying power of the audience (with regard to) more retail options,” Dickinson said. “(Marshalls) is a nice addition.”

Bell hinted that a few other businesses aim to open soon at Kennedy Mall but said he could not yet release more details.

“Our leasing executives have always made the case that Dubuque is a wonderful place to do business,” he said.