Retail Roundup: New Marshalls, TJ Maxx stores in the works
A TJ Maxx store will open this spring in Soundview Marketplace in Port Washington North. Credit: Yeong-Ung Yang
Bargain hunters are getting attention — and more places to shop on Long Island.
Two more off-price department stores — Marshalls and TJ Maxx — are in the works for the area, as consumer demand for bargain prices on name-brand goods grows.
Marshalls and TJ Maxx sell off-price clothing, shoes and home goods, some of which bear designer names. The chains are owned by The TJX Companies Inc., a Massachusetts company that also owns home decor chains HomeSense and HomeGoods.
A TJ Maxx is underway at Soundview Marketplace, a shopping center that faces Shore Road in Port Washington North.
The 27,614-square-foot store will open in renovated space that used to house multiple storefronts, including an Ace Hardware that relocated in the shopping center several weeks ago, Mayor Bob Weitzner said.
“The majority of the space that TJ Maxx is taking has been vacant for maybe 15 years since it was a Blockbuster,” he said.
The store, which will open in the spring, has received site plan approval and building permits from the village, said Robert Barbach, superintendent of buildings for Port Washington North.
Work is underway to create the new TJ Maxx store in Soundview Markeplace. Credit: Yeong-Ung Yang
Before being bought out of receivership in 2017 by a Texas company — identified as LBUBS 2007-C7 Shore Road LLC — Soundview Marketplace was struggling with losing tenants and in disrepair, Weitzner said.
“The real killer was losing King Kullen,” he said.
The grocery store closed in January 2015, but a small-format Target store, of 48,000 square feet, took its place in October 2017. The shopping center’s owner also has upgraded the property with a new parking lot, roofing, lighting and other features, Weitzner said.
“It’s almost a new shopping center, frankly,” he said.
Other tenants in Soundview Marketplace include Subway, Rite Aid, Carvel and Soundview Cinemas.
Manhattan-based Ripco Real Estate Co., which oversees leasing for the center, declined to comment.
TJX Companies Inc. confirmed the TJ Maxx will open in the spring.
Marshalls heading to the Hamptons
The Marshalls planned for Bridgehampton Commons will be beside an existing TJ Maxx.
The Marshalls, planned for 22,000 square feet, will take some space from TJ Maxx, which will be left at 24,000 square feet, said Nick Brown of shopping center owner Kimco Realty Corp. in New Hyde Park.
The sister stores will share another 5,000 square feet of “back of house” space, but they will have separate public entrances, he said.
The Southampton Planning Board granted Kimco final conditional approval of the site plan for the project Feb. 14, said Kerri Meyer, principal office assistant for the town's planning department.
Plans and paperwork still need to be submitted for a building permit, she said.
Construction on the Marshalls will start later this year, and the store is expected to open in 2020, Kimco said. TJX Companies declined to comment on the Marshalls store.
Other tenants at Bridgehampton Commons, a 287,507-square-foot center on Montauk Highway, include King Kullen, Gap, Staples, Kmart and Williams-Sonoma.
As a side note, Soundview Marketplace has a Payless ShoeSource store — for the time being. As was reported last week, Payless is closing its 2,500 North American stores, including the 30 on Long Island, starting at the end of March, but many stores will remain open through the end of May.
Discounters offer 'treasure hunt'
While traditional department stores such as Macy’s and JC Penney are contending with declining sales as more consumers turn to online shopping, off-price stores such as Marshalls, TJ Maxx and Ross are seeing growth for several reasons.
Off-price stores allow customers to buy top brands at bargain prices, and they constantly change their assortment of products, which gives customers a reason to visit regularly, said Neil Saunders, managing director of retail at GlobalData, a Manhattan market research firm.
“Customers also like the treasure hunt of finding bargains that they did not expect,” he said.
Over the year that ended Nov. 3, TJX Companies added 244 new stores, for a total of 4,296 locations in the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia.
Last year, TJX introduced its HomeSense retail concept to Long Island, opening stores in the Commack South Shopping Center and in The Shops at Riverhead.
The company opened four other Long Island stores in 2018 — Marshalls and HomeGoods in the Riverhead shopping center; a TJ Maxx in a former Staples building on Route 112 in Medford; and a HomeGoods on Route 110 in Melville.
Retail Roundup is a column about major retail news on Long Island — store openings, closings, expansions, acquisitions, etc. — that is published online and in the Monday paper. To read more of these columns, click here. If you have news to share, please send an email to Newsday reporter Tory N. Parrish at tory.parrish@newsday.com.
Correction: An earlier version of this column incorrectly listed Payless as a tenant at Bridgehampton Commons. The store, which is still listed on the company's website, closed in the third quarter of 2018.
The off-price retailers are expanding as consumer demand for bargains on name-brand products grows.
Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.
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