TJX lifts long-term store target to 7,500

TJX Cos. has raised its long-term global store target by 500 locations, to 7,500, and said it will grow store openings 4% faster in 2027. Bisnow reported the disclosures from the off-price retailer's second-quarter earnings release, which came Wednesday. For retail owners and lenders, that is a forward occupancy number to underwrite against.

The company ended the quarter with just under 5,300 stores globally and 137.9M square feet. TJ Maxx accounts for 1,359 U.S. locations; Marshalls, 1,267. HomeGoods and Sierra sit in the same portfolio. Net store count rose 23 in the second quarter, and total square footage was up 0.4% from the first.

The new ceiling extends an earlier forecast. In February 2023, CEO Ernie Herrman said TJX could open as many as 1,400 new stores, without a timeline. The chain has added roughly 500 since. Wednesday's language — a higher ceiling plus a faster near-term pace — suggests management still sees economics in additional boxes.

Ross Stores is on track to open about 110 locations in 2026, and Burlington plans a similar number. Pair those plans with TJX's numbers, and a discount-store pipeline takes shape that owners and lenders can test against their own occupancy assumptions.

The useful number for owners may be the 4%, not the 7,500. A store-opening acceleration in 2027 is a commitment management can be judged against; a long-term target is ambition with an escape hatch. Owners and lenders can use the nearer number either way.