AUBURN – The area’s newest national retail store is open, offering a selection of specialty housewares to entice shoppers.

Bed Bath & Beyond, the giant housewares retailer, quietly opened its fifth Maine location in the Auburn Plaza off Center Street last week. The 20,000-square-foot store occupies a portion of the space once filled by Service Merchandise.

Adam Ackerly, regional representative for the New York-based chain, said Bed Bath & Beyond decided to open a store in Auburn because of the number of local shoppers traveling to the retailer’s locations in Augusta and Portland.

“We see this as an opportunity,” said Ackerly. The store planned to hire about 25 employees.

It carries an extensive inventory of housewares and gifts, including bed linens, bath accessories, window treatments, kitchen linens, as well as cookware, dinnerware, glassware, lifestyle accessories, closet and storage items, and juvenile items.

Ackerly said the chain stakes its reputation on quality merchandise at constant lower prices.

“We feel customers are educated. They’re not going to pay full price anyway,” he said, noting other big retailers such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot employ the same marketing philosophy. “We don’t have to worry about sales.”

The store is organized so that each department is like its own mini-store.

The retailer also boasts about its expertise in handling bridal registries, a service it offers in stores and online.

Founded in 1971, Bed Bath & Beyond has more than 800 stores. Last year, it recorded more than $5 billion in sales. Christmas Tree Shop is a subsidiary of Bed Bath & Beyond.

According to the NPD Group, a consumer/retailer trade association, six out of 10 U.S. households shop at Bed Bath & Beyond.