Worcester Business Journal

18 Worcester Business Journal | October 16, 2017 | wbjournal.com F O C U S M E T R O W E S T The bright spot in retail TJX has launched another in-store shopping experience, leveraging customer loyalty and treasure-hunt mentality in a $664B market BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal News Editor T JX Cos. has for years been a rare bright spot in retailing, earning high margins and opening stores as many competitors have shuttered one store after another. Now, the MetroWest company is placing a wager it can keep the streak of success going, launching a new home decor and furniture chain, HomeSense. The move reflects the company's confi- dence about the room for growth in the industry, its ability to leverage customer loyalty and use existing supply and dis- tribution network to keep costs down. "We believe we are significantly underpenetrated in the total U.S. home market, and enormous opportunity remains for us to gain share in this space," said Scott Goldenberg, TJX CFO and senior executive vice president, in an earnings call with investors in May, when HomeSense was announced. TJX, with $33 billion in annual reve- nues and corporate offices in Framingham and Marlborough, plans to add 260 stores this year, including nearly 100 HomeGoods. HomeSense &. HomeGoods HomeSense will be different from the TJX's existing and similarly named HomeGoods chain. CEO Ernie Hermann described an extreme, visible difference, with the new chain having more lighting and art, and large furni- ture such as sofas and bookcases. A general store-themed part of each HomeSense will carry organization and hardware items. HomeGoods, which already has more than 600 stores in the United States, will be the only one of the two lines to carry kids and pet items. "HomeSense will look and feel very different from our HomeGoods chain," Goldenberg said. In fact, TJX is planning to have HomeSense and HomeGoods near one another or even sometimes in the same plaza. The first HomeSense store, which opened in August at Shoppers World in Framingham, is just across Route 30 from a HomeGoods. Two other HomeSense stores slated to open this fall are within a mile from a HomeGoods store, and another is in the same plaza. The Framingham HomeSense was packed in the middle of a weekday this month. To a typical shopper, there may seem to be little difference between a HomeGoods store and this new store, though HomeSense has a brighter, modern-design, warehouse feel. TJX has opened its first HomeSense store in Shoppers World in Framingham, a drive of just a few minutes from an existing HomeGoods store. HomeSense offers decor like seasonal decorations as a HomeGoods does, but also includes large furniture and lighting. P H O T O S / G R A N T W E L K E R

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