When Kimberly Dulude steps into a TJ Maxx store near her job at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she likes to begin perusing a clearance aisle in the back. Then she works her way up to shoes. Beauty is next, and so on until she gets to the front. The 29-year-old does buy stuff online all the time–just not from TJ Maxx. The store, she says, provides the thrill of the hunt.
"I kid you not, I could spend hours in there," said Dulude.
There's been much talk this holiday season about the utter dominance of e-commerce. Cyber Monday set a new record for online sales, racking up $3.45 billion, according to Adobe Digital Insights. The National Retail Federation said more people shopped online throughout Black Friday weekend than in physical stores. And the clicks continued past the weekend: Retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Amazon.com turned what was once just a discount day for online sales into weeks of bargains.
But there are some stores bucking the trend. Take TJ Maxx and Marshalls, owned by parent company TJX Cos. Inc. They're a rarity in the retail universe: stores that don't care about online sales because their businesses are based on the real-life retail experience. Inventory shifts regularly, so no visit is the same—the promise of discovering great items on the cheap is what draws shoppers inside.
Companies like Framingham, Mass.-based TJX and competitors Ross Stores Inc. and Burlington Stores Inc. have a team of buyers that pick up excess items on the wholesale market–anything from cashmere sweaters to copper mugs. TJX alone works with more than 18,000 vendors, including manufacturers and retailers, to scoop up stylish stuff in bulk and resell it at a steal. With more than 2,500 U.S. stores, the company is also adept at tailoring merchandise being offered to local trends.
Read Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.