Clothing and housewares retailer T.J. Maxx has been inked to lease the largest space inside the old Kroger grocery store complex on Pemberton Square Boulevard, the property’s ownership said Monday.

The empty middle section of Vicksburg Plaza — flanked by Citi Trends and Petsense — could open by May, according to the website of Houston-based Weiner Development, which purchased the former supermarket and the neighboring Pemberton mall in 2010.

When reached, company president Andy Weiner said the date is tentative and subject to change.

Once open, it would be the eighth T.J. Maxx in Mississippi. The retailer is the nation’s largest off-price retailer of brand-name clothing and home fashions in the United States, according to Massachusetts-based parent The TJX Companies Inc.. The firm also owns the Marshalls and HomeGoods brand of similarly themed stores in the U.S., HomeSense in Canada and T.K. Maxx in Europe.

The Vicksburg store will cover 24,000 square feet, leaving a 1,500-square-foot sliver of space for lease between it and Petsense. It appears as generic retail opportunity on the plaza’s site plan and, once it’s filled, would be the fourth store in the space where Kroger operated before it moved across the street in 2008.

“It’s probably the most desirable retail space in Vicksburg,” Weiner said.

Since 2010, a Goody’s clothing outlet and small eateries have opened inside the renamed Vicksburg Mall.