Customer insight rings 'Beall's,' whistles.

Floridians buy relatively few winter coats.

While that may seem obvious to Floridians, it seems not all department store chains have grasped the concept.

That's all the better for Bradenton-based Beall's Department Stores, which prides itself on knowing its customers.

Beall's joins the fastest-growing private companies in the Tampa Bay area with revenue rising 28.52 percent from 1997 to 1999 to $456.3 million.

That bucks a nationwide trend of hard times for department stores.

"It's a very competitive market, that's for sure," said Malachy Kavanagh, spokesman for the International Council of Shopping Centers in New York. "They've …