More than 100 people braved the cold drizzle Wednesday afternoon to be the first customers of the new Gordmans store in Shelbyville.

The retailer's staff held a ribbon-cutting ceremony as the shoppers waited for the doors to open at Gordmans, located at 1818 E. State Road 44.

During the ceremony, Gordmans presented a check for $1,000 to Shelbyville High School.

Cassidy Judge is the store manager. She said they have a variety of items, including clothing and shoes for all ages, but the specialty is home décor.

Asked how Gordmans is growing while so many brick and mortar retailers are shutting their doors due to online competition, Judge said the key is discounting.

“It's an off-price place, so, you know, you don't have the high price. We don't do coupons, but we do have the low prices that will keep our customers coming,” she said.

Off-price retailers sell overstock and out-of-season items at a discount. According to the industry website – www.retaildive.com - the off-price sector is flourishing, due to low prices, convenience and variety of merchandise.

Gordmans is owned by Stage Stores Inc. headquartered in Houston. Stage Stores entered the off-price market by acquiring Gordmans in 2017.

Besides 58 Gordmans locations, Stage Stores operates about 800 BEALLS, GOODY’S, PALAIS ROYAL, PEEBLES and STAGE specialty department stores in 42 states.

Stage Stores employs about 14,500 workers and had 2016 sales totaling $1.4 billion, according to the company's website – www.corporate.stage.com.