A major remodel project is under way at the largest vacant space in NorthTown Mall, where Marshalls, a discount apparel retail chain, plans to open next spring.

Marshalls originally had hoped to open in time for the current Christmas shopping season, but the big retailer pushed the planned opening to March due to the scope of the project, says Robert Thompson, new store development and construction manager for Marshall's parent company, Framingham, Mass.-based TJX Cos.

Thompson says the company likely will hire about 100 employees to work at the Spokane location.

The NorthTown store, at 4750 N. Division, will occupy 26,400 square feet of retail space in an anchor location that formerly housed a Nordstrom Rack outlet.

Marshalls entered the permitting process with the city of Spokane last summer and obtained a building permit in October. Plans on file with the city list the project value at $700,000.

Gluck Building Co., of Calabasas, Calif., is the contractor on the project, and Scott Gibson Architect Inc., of Chico, Calif., designed it.

Joe Buendia, Gluck's project manager, says the company has hired several local subcontractors, including Rays Demolition, of Spokane; Diversified Flooring Services, of Spokane Valley; All Wall Contracting Inc., of Post Falls; and Coeur d'Alene-based ACI Northwest Inc.

The project will include putting in new sales areas, check stands, automatic doors, restrooms, offices, and stock processing areas, plans show. The work will include framing with metal studs, installing drywall, wiring new electrical services, hanging suspended ceiling and light fixtures, installing new fire sprinkler and alarm systems, and mounting three rooftop heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning units.

Marshalls, which specializes in reduced-priced name-brand apparel and home fashions, is a subsidiary of TJX Cos., which also owns T.J. Maxx, another reduced-price fashion chain that operates three outlets in the Spokane-Coeur d'Alene area.

Marshalls operates 884 stores in the U.S. and has opened more than 60 stores nationwide this year, TJX Co.'s website says. Marshalls' closest outlets to Spokane are in Western Washington.

Nordstrom Rack, which carries discounted merchandise from Nordstrom outlets and the Seattle-based company's online store, vacated the NorthTown space a year ago and reopened in the Spokane Valley Plaza, where it neighbors a T.J. Maxx outlet just west of the Spokane Valley Mall.