Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal | March 6, 2017 | wbjournal.com chains and markets, Herman said, alluding to the potential for opening in new countries or additional chains. Avoiding the struggle The discount retailer has been thriv- ing as many other retailers have strug- gled since the Great Recession. TJX added 198 stores in the past year, now totaling 3,812 locations interna- tionally. Macy's, on the other hand, spent its 2016 budget year closing 66 locations, and said it plans to close another 34 over the coming years. The company reported a 4-percent fourth-quarter sales drop and said it was projecting further losses in the next year. Kmart and Sears, which share a par- ent company, said earlier this year they plan to close a combined 150 stores. Only days after TJX announced its expansion, JCPenney said it planned to close 130 to 140 stores and offer buy- outs to about 6,000 employees. Sales across its roughly 1,000 stores were flat for the year, the company said. Those closures should only help TJX, which said it plans to open 250 new stores in the coming budget year alone. Location, location, location Victor Matheson, an economics pro- fessor at College of the Holy Cross, said he knew of no other retailer expanding today like TJX. "I personally was really surprised by that because you're getting consolida- tion all over the place with retailers," he said. It may not be only what TJX has done and how, Matheson said, but where. A typical T.J. Maxx, Marshalls or HomeGoods is in an outdoor shopping plaza near a grocery store or a Walmart or Target with heavy traffic. A Macy's or Sears, on the other hand, is likely to be an anchor store in an enclosed mall, which have suffered in recent years as shopping trends move away from that direction. C E N T R A L M AS S TJX grows as other retailers struggle or close I N B R I E F I n a retail environment consistently squeezed by online sales, TJX has found just where it needs to be. It's an off-price retailer that doesn't need to compete for the latest fashions but instead offers surprises for shoppers. "It's more of a treasure hunt," said Kathy Debevec, an associate marketing professor at the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst. TJX, the parent of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods, also doesn't try stocking every size and style, Debevec said. Combined with a high turnover in inventory, a shopper can walk into one of the company's stores and never know exactly what to expect. 50-percent expansion That niche has allowed TJX to thrive as many other retailers have struggled in a marketplace increasingly dominated by Amazon and other online sales. The company, which has its global headquarters split between Framingham and Marlborough, said in February it plans to expand by 1,800 stores in the long run, increasing its store count by nearly 50 percent. It also plans a new home-good line separate from its 579 HomeGoods loca- tions. Ernie Herman, the company's chief executive officer and president, said he sees enormous global store growth potential in the years ahead. "We see ourselves as leaders in inno- vation and will never be complacent," he said in a February investor call. Growth plans include only existing V E R B A T I M Sensing opportunity "It provides an up-and-coming opportunity for a player like me." Frank Peace, the CEO of New England Craft Restaurant Concepts, on signing a lease on Route 20 in Marlborough Pros and cons "We're losing $300-400 million on sales. That's a much bigger problem for Main Street and for the Legislature." Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, explaining complications of a potential sales-tax holiday, which he said can cost the state $20 million to $25 million in lost revenue Train a comin' "Current HeartToHub scheduled times are not ideal, and ridership suffers because of this." Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty and City Manager Edward Augustus, writing to state Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack, opposing the proposed addition of new stops for the nonstop Boston-to-Worcester commuter train W BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal Digital Editor T.J. Maxx and HomeGoods, which share a retail space at Greendale Mall in Worcester, will offer surprise purchases to entice shoppers. P H O T O / B R A D K A N E

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