Long Islanders discover: 'what's a T.J. Maxx.'

Discount Store News, Jan 6, 1992 by Jill Lettich

Long Islanders Discover: |What's a T.J. Maxx'

OCEANSIDE, N.Y. - When a telephone operator receives so many inquiries about a new business that she asks a caller, "What's T.J. Maxx?", there's no doubt a stir has been created.

With that kind of interest, it is no surprise that the openings of the off-price apparel chain's first two stores in the New York suburb of Long Island in late November were a resounding success.

According to Barbara Citulli, assistant manager of the Oceanside unit, sales hit $500,000 in its first week. Simultaneous with the Oceanside opening, T.J. Maxx debuted a store further east in Islandia.

"Though this is a new market for us, many customers know T.J. Maxx from their travels in other areas; we're getting very positive feedback from customers," she said.

Parent TJX Cos., Framingham, Mass., plans to open four more Long Island stores by spring, 1992.

The company recently signed an agreement with Supermarkets General Holdings Corp. to convert four Rickel Home Center stores into T.J. Maxx units. The Rickel stores in Greenvale, Huntington, Levittown and West Babylon will close in January.

That parallels a Long Island expansion move by archrival Marshalls, which converted several former Channel home center units into off-price apparel stores last year.

Marshalls has more than 30 units on Long Island. According to Citulli, T.J. Maxx's competition also includes the many department stores in the area. "We carry many of the brands that a department store would," she explained.

The 24,000-sq.-ft. store in Oceanside has incorporated many new merchandising and fixturing changes.

Most notable are new graphics to designate various departments, instituted at the chain within the past year.

Also new is a tri-wall display in the women's apparel area. A pyramid shape display wall designates apparel categories and brand name items.

Leslie Fay and Evan Picone were among the featured department store brands. Upper-end labels such as Ralph Lauren and Christian Dior were also prominent in both the men's and women's areas.

"We have been making an effort to bring more coordinates into the store," Citulli said. "We put blue tags on all the coordinate pieces so that a customer knows that there is a matching item to go with what she's looking at."

In this era of upscaling, another unique aspect of the store is the absence of carpeting in the central apparel area. It makes quick changes easier for the store personnel and does not seem to have impacted the sales in that area. Also, merchandising is left to the individual stores.

The perimeter of the store makes use of slot walls, where small bins can be attached or removed as necessary. In Oceanside, one part of the men's area was using the bins for packaged underwear and T-shirts.

The children's wear area has been expanded to include infant and toddler shoes, once located in the shoe area.

Though the Oceanside unit does not include the larger housewares and giftware section that the chain has rolled out to about 60 stores, Citulli noted that housewares and domestics have been upscaled in this unit. More gourmet items are available and the giftwear section includes decorative lamps as well as brass and crystal items.

T.J. Maxx operates 425 units across the country.

The store is riding a wave of new store introductions to Long Island. Kmart has already started springing up throughout the island and a factory outlet center planned for Bellport is likely to cement Long Island's place on the map as a discount retailing center.

PHOTO : T.J. Maxx, Oceanside, N.Y.: More coordinates have been added to the mix at the off-pricer. Bold graphics mark the different departments in the store.