Bealls faces lawsuit from family member, 'odd' behavior by CEO alleged

Bradenton-based retailer Bealls, a nearly $2 billion company founded in 1915 that is on its fourth generation of family leadership, is facing a complaint filed by the founder's great-granddaughter, Jennifer Beall. The complaint was partially motivated, court records show, by her desire to find out whether the controlling companies — Bealls Inc. and Bealls Westgate Corp. — are funding personal matters or private projects tied to Bealls CEO Matt Beall, whose behavior she describes in the lawsuit as "curious" and "odd." 

Jennifer Beall also alleges Bealls Inc. and Bealls Westgate failed to share records she requested as a shareholder. The lawsuit was filed May 11 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. 

Under Florida law, a shareholder of a corporation is entitled to inspect and copy records such as financial statements, accounting records and any other books and records upon providing a purpose for inspection within five business days of providing notice.

Bealls has more than 650 stores, and Westgate operates 48 stores, according to the complaint. Bealls had $1.93 billion in revenue in 2024, and has 14,650 employees, according to the Business Observer's 2025 Big Book of Business. It was founded 111 years ago, when R.M. Beall opened a small-town five-and-dime in Bradenton. 

A spokesperson for Bealls says that the company is reviewing the claims made in the lawsuit.

"Bealls Inc. has acted in good faith and has responded to shareholder inquiries, working to address concerns through appropriate channels," a Bealls spokesperson tells the Business Observer in a Thursday email. "While this filing was unexpected, we will not comment further given the pending litigation. We remain focused on responsible governance and on the long-term interests of the company and its stakeholders."

The attorney for Jennifer Beall — J. Joseph Givner of Miami-based Givner Law Group — did not immediately respond to phone and emailed requests for comment to expand on the lawsuit or answer questions. 

On Oct. 20, 2025, Jennifer Beall asked to inspect certain documents from Bealls and Westgate, according to the complaint. The list includes an organizational chart; minutes from board of directors meetings, audited financial statements and breakdowns of significant expenditures outside primary retail operations for the past four fiscal years; and corporate investments over the past five fiscal years. 

She says she filed her request, in part, to understand the company’s governance and operational strategies and to “investigate the potential mismanagement and waste of corporate assets related to expenditures outside the company’s primary business operations.”

In addition, the complaint says, Jennifer Beall “and her family have witnessed odd behavior from Matt and each company." Matt Beall has been the CEO of Bealls and Westgate since December 2019.

“The curious behavior by Matt has expanded into other matters,” says the complaint, which “raised concerns for Ms. Beall as a shareholder of both Bealls and Westgate.” The more than 45-page complaint is heavily redacted and does not detail the alleged "curious behavior."

In November 2025, Bealls and Westgate provided some of the items requested, including audited financial statements for fiscal years 2022 to 2025, the complaint says, but they failed to share investment and expenditure data as well as the organizational chart.

In January, Jennifer Beall filed a second request for documents, stating among her reasons to assess the value of her shares in Bealls and Westgate and the companies’ financial conditions as well as to evaluate the following:

• “whether Bealls and Westgate have been properly managed and whether there have been any breaches of fiduciary duties owed to Bealls and Westgate, including any mismanagement and/or waste of corporate assets” 
• “whether Bealls and Westgate are funding personal matters and/or projects of Matt Beall”
• “whether Bealls and Westgate have paid or are improperly paying the personal expenses of any officer or director of Bealls or Westgate”

When the companies failed to produce the records she requested, the complaint says, it was “improper and in violation” of Jennifer Beall's statutory rights as a shareholder. The companies have claimed she is not entitled to the majority of the documents, the complaint says.

Jennifer Beall made a third request for records April 10, the complaint says, including information about the following:

• Agreements between the company and any third party regarding acceptance of cryptocurrencies as payment, including agreements with Flexa (In October 2025, Bealls announced it was the first national retailer to begin accepting digital currency from any crypto wallet app through an agreement with digital payment provider Flexa.)
• Costs of podcasts by Matt Beall or his spouse during the past five fiscal years or costs of social media content or messages generated by or on behalf of Matt Beall
• Agreements with the company and Kathy Tolleson [who is a pastoral counselor]

The companies asked to have until April 29 to respond — and she agreed — but when they produced no documents, Jennifer Beall says, she filed the complaint.” She also requested that the complaint be sealed and a redacted version available for 90 days due to “highly confidential and sensitive business information” contained in the Bealls and Westgate annual reports, “including results of their business operations.”