TJX Companies' (TJX) Homesense Concept Stores Set For Launch

The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) is set to open its new off-price home concept “Homesense” on Aug 17 at Framingham, MA.

Homesense would offer trendy and high quality products at a great value. The shopping experience at the store would compliment that of its sister chain, HomeGoods, by providing expanded departments for furniture, lighting and art.

This new home concept would include a gallery where shoppers can browse and select from a wide range of chairs of different sizes and shapes. Customers will also be able to find bar and game room furniture that include pool tables, card tables and more. Free-standing fixtures and oversized easels would compliment the art display, aiding a gallery-style shopping. With such unique features, Homesense concept in the U.S. will differ from that in Canada and Europe, despite sharing a similar name.

More Homesense store openings are planned by the end of this year in Massachusetts (at Westwood) and New Jersey (at Hanover and Ocean Township).

The management is quite confident regarding this new off-price home concept and expects that customers would enjoy shopping at Homesense, based on the feedbacks from TJ Maxx and Marshalls. This store opening is in line with the company’s ongoing store expansion strategy. With almost 3,800 stores in nine countries, TJX Companies plans to grow to 5,600 stores over the long term.

The company has plans to open nearly 250 stores in fiscal 2018. Store expansion plans mainly cover the regions of the U.S., Europe and Canada. Moreover, TJX Companies has reported positive comparable store sales (comps) growth in the past 32 quarters. Higher traffic driven by new and existing customers resulted in the company’s impressive performance. The company’s fresh stock and widespread sourcing machinery has helped it maintain a loyal consumer base.

Alongside such store expansion strategies, the company has also undertaken several initiatives for boosting e-commerce sales. Aggressive marketing and advertising campaigns through multiple mediums compliment the sales enhancing efforts.

Nevertheless, the company’s performance remains exposed to currency headwinds and rising product costs. Though shares of TJX Companies have declined 7.3% in the past six months, it is narrower than the decline of the Zacks categorized Retail–Discount & Variety industry that declined 9.1%.

The company currently has a VGM Score of “A” and carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking for More Stocks in the Retail Space? Check these

Investors may consider stocks such as Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) which sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) along with The Children's Place, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLCE) and Burlington Stores, Inc. (NYSE:BURL) , both carrying a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Best Buy delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 33.8% in the trailing four quarters and has a long-term earnings growth rate of 11.8%.

Children's Place delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 36.6% in the trailing four quarters and has a long-term earnings growth rate of 8%.

Burlington Stores delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 22.6% in the trailing four quarters and has a long-term earnings growth rate of 15.9%.

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