TJX plans to add 1,800 new stores

Photo | Google TJX's headquarters in Framingham

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By Grant Welker

TJX, the parent of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods, could expand by 1,800 stores in the long term, the company's president said in an earnings call with reporters Wednesday.

About 1,300 of the new locations would be in North America. TJX, with its global headquarters split between Framingham and Marlborough, said it plans a new home-good line separate from its 579 HomeGoods locations.

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 innovation and will never be complacent," he said.

TJX plans to increase its store count by nearly 50 percent, up to about 5,600 from today's 3,800. Those plans include only existing chains and markets, Herman said, alluding to the potential for opening in new countries or additional chains.

The discount retailer has been thriving as other retailers, such as Macy's, have struggled recently. TJX added 198 stores in the past year.

Macy’s, on the other hand, spent its 2016 budget year closing 66 locations, and said it plans to close another 34 in the next several 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 parent company, said earlier this year they plan to close a combined 150 stores.

Only two days after TJX announced its expansion, JCPenney said Friday it planned to close 130 to 140 stores and offer buyouts 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.

The company said it plans 250 new stores in the coming fiscal year, including 65 T.J. Maxx or Marshalls locations, 81 HomeGoods and four locations of a new, unnamed home concept chain expected to not compete with HomeGoods. It plans 35 new locations in Canada and 45 in Europe and Australia.

TJX reported Wednesday fourth-quarter profits of $678 million, or $1.03 per share, up 4 percent from the fourth quarter 2015. For the fiscal year that ended Jan. 28, profits were $2.3 billion, a 4-percent annual increase.

Shares of the company were trading Thursday at around $78, equaling its one-month high.