Soooooooooooooo ... guess where I was this morning? St. Pete's newest shopping hotspot. 

Remember the old Circuit City near Tyrone Quare Mall that closed some time ago? Well, it's no longer vacant. In its place is a new, shiny TJ Maxx!!!

Today is the grand opening.

Naturally, we Deal Divas had to check it out. Anything for our readers, right?

I got there before 9 and the parking lot was PACKED. I took a deep breath, tightened my grip on my purse and headed in. 

The first thing you need to know about this store is that it's CLEAN. Hallelujah, right. 

Don't know how long it'll stay that way with the amount of people in there this morning, but really, this is TJ Maxx.

You know what you're getting into when you go. 

But still, this one is nice you guys. Still has that "new store" smell.

The finishes seem to be an upgrade too, evidenced by sleeker signage and a bigger emphasis on the red and white theme. 

Workers, many who dressed up for the occassion, tell me its actually a prototype of what all new future stores will look like. 

Here's a pic of the inside: 

And another of store manager Roy Allen talking to a customer. Doesn't he look spiffy in his ... wait, is that a tuxedo?!?

Hands down, the biggest difference you'll likely notice between this and other stores is the revamped dressing rooms.

The floors are a wood (or at least a wood-looking laminate), there's a soft yellow wallpaper and there's cushioned ottomans rather than a hard bench. Outside the dressing room, there's a handy section dedicated to parking your cart.

Of course, there's plenty of not-so-subtle marketing too, like this sign mounted on the inside of every dressing room door. A little enabling never hurt anyone, right?

The only downsides? 

Since this is a new store, there were no clearance sections yet (and you KNOW how much we Deal Divas love us some clearance racks). 

Also, I was surprised that for the size of the store, there weren't MORE dressing rooms. (I counted nine on the Ladies' side).

But in this case, quality seemed to make up for quantity. These dressing rooms actually have working locks! That might sound crazy, but just a couple weeks ago I was at a different TJ MAXX and, no lie, at least half of the doors in the dressing rooms had "door broken" signs taped to them. Classy. 

So if you've got some time to kill today, or this weekend, head over to check out the store, which is tucked in the back of the Crossroads Shopping center off 22nd Avenue N, between Tyrone Boulevard and 66th Street N.

The crowds might be intense, but if nothing else, they might still have some free totes, like this one I snagged on my way out:

And be sure to come back here and tell us about your finds!

Deal Diva Kameel

(Photos: my iPhone)