TJ Maxx/HomeGoods combo store marks Sunday opening in South Philly

The new TJ Maxx and HomeGoods combo store to dress yourself and your home will open side-by-side on Sunday in South Philadelphia.

It will mark Philadelphia's first HomeGoods store and the first of what will be two TJ Maxx stores in the city.

The TJ Maxx/HomeGoods combo store will be in the Columbus Crossing shopping center, owned by ShopCore Properties at 1851 S. Christopher Columbus Blvd. In the vicinity, it joins heavyweight retailers, including an Ikea, Home Depot, Best Buy, Walmart, Target, Raymour & Flanigan, and Old Navy.

TJX Cos. Inc., the parent of both brands, announced Sunday's 8 a.m. opening in a news release. It describes TJ Maxx and HomeGoods as offering ever-changing brand names and designer merchandise that are marked 20 percent to 60 percent less than department and specialty stores. HomeGoods sells furniture, rugs, lighting, decorative accessories, and dining, bedding, and bath merchandise, among other items. TJ Maxx offers clothing, shoes, luggage, accessories and beauty items.

The South Philly combo store features separate entrances, two distinct stores, and a pass-through. The stores expect to fill about 120 full- and part-time positions combined.

The combo store's regular hours will be Monday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

TJX Cos. is the largest off-price retailer in the U.S. and worldwide. The company operates more than 3,800 stores including TJ Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Sierra Trading Post, and Homesense, as well as tjmaxx.com and sierratradingpost.com, in the United States.  The stock closed at $69.80, up 0.65 percent, on Tuesday, and down almost $3 over the last year.

The TJ Maxx HomeGoods "will provide guests with high-end merchandise at a significant savings,"  said Metro Commercial principal Glenn Marvin, who represented TJX in the transaction and its expansion in the region.

Analysts say the off-price sector that TJ Maxx, and sister Marshalls inhabit is doing well, fueled by a value-conscious consumer hungry for high-quality product. While several retail chains, including department stores such as Macy's and JC Penney's, are shrinking their store footprint, off-price retailers keep adding stores. TJ Maxx is opening dozens of new stores this year – including the South Philly and Center City stores — as part of an aggressive multi-year expansion.

A 22,355-square-foot TJ Maxx will join the long-awaited East Market project in early 2018 at 1100 Market St. It will occupy an entire block and is being developed by National Real Estate Development.

In urban areas, such as Philly, the booming millennial population and need for new housing and furnishings are helping retailers, such as HomeGoods.

"The HomeGoods store is entering the market at a perfect time, complementing the housing growth throughout the entire city," broker Marvin said. "The selection and products offered at TJ Maxx and HomeGoods change weekly, keeping shoppers coming through the door frequently."

The TJ Maxx/HomeGoods combo store will occupy just over 42,000 square feet of what used to be a  60,000-square-foot SuperFresh grocery store that closed two summers ago.

Retailers — and the brokers that represent them — tend to benefit from combo deals, said Garrick Brown, vice president of retail research of the Americas at Cushman & Wakefield.

The combo-store model "offers the retailers greater leverage in lease negotiations with landlords," said Brown.  "For shopping centers with multiple midsize vacancies, we have seen landlords willing to ink deals at significantly reduced rates to land the right combinations."

TJ Maxx/HomeGoods "are doing gangbusters business right now, and that could offer the potential for the complete repositioning of a shopping center toward off-price and value retailers,"  he said.

Customer Andrew Garuffe, 74, a retiree from Langhorne, shopped at the TJ Maxx/HomeGoods combo store at Lincoln Plaza on 350 E. Lincoln Highway in Langhorne on Tuesday. He first stopped at TJ Maxx for bath rugs, and then walked over to the HomeGoods for kitchen floor rugs.

"It's a good thing," he said, loading up his car. "It's so convenient and easy to shop at both in the same location. Saves me a trip."

(This story has been changed to reflect that the new TJ Maxx/HomeGoods store will not be in the same complex as Ikea, Best Buy and Target.)