Website claims Ames Department Stores to return in 2023

(WJAR) — A company that claims to be behind Ames Department Stores says it is resurrecting the chain.

The company made the announcement on its website, writing, "Ames Department Stores, Inc is returning in Spring 2023."

Shannon de Molyneux, president of Cross Moline Ventures, told NBC 10 News that a location in Rhode Island is expected, but stores will open in Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania first.

• FOLLOW-UP: NBC 10 digs deeper into claims about resurrection of Ames stores

The first stores are set to open in Connecticut during the spring of 2023, with Rhode Island reportedly on the expansion plan for the 2024 season, according to Molyneux.

The company was previously based in Rocky Hill, Connecticut.

The company told NBC affiliate WVIT it will not reopen a headquarters in Rocky Hill, but is considering Meriden, Connecticut, as a new home for its corporate headquarters.

Ames, which was founded in 1958, closed its remaining stores in 2002 and went out of business.