TJX Companies is counting on price-conscious New Englanders to fuel the
success of A.J. Wright, a discount store chain that is expected to
compete with retail giants Wal-Mart and Kmart.
A.J. Wright, which will offer family apparel, giftware and home
furnishings at discounted prices, joins a TJX Companies family that
includes T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods.
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TJX opened A.J. Wright stores yesterday on Narragansett Park Drive in
East Providence and on Grafton Street in Worcester, Mass. Last month,
A.J. Wright stores opened in Brockton, Somerville and Malden, Mass. The
opening of the East Providence store comes as welcome news to city
officials who have been attempting to fill a former Ames department
store site for several years.
Arnold Barron, senior vice president and group executive of TJX
Companies and chairman of A.J. Wright, said that the average price
points in the A.J. Wright stores will be somewhat different from T.J. Maxx
and Marshalls. This will be “a more moderate income consumer.”
Barron is counting on working class consumers who appreciate a good
value. While Marshalls and T.J. Maxx compete for those shoppers who
traditionally buy their clothing at the likes of Filene’s and Macy’s,
A.J. Wright’s audience will be decidedly blue collar.
Barron is confident that shoppers will like what they see when they
enter one of the 25,000 square-foot A.J. Wright stores.
“They are going to see a tremendous amount of merchandise at 20 percent
to 70 percent off what they are used to seeing at other stores,” Barron
said. However, we have eliminated the confusion and inconvenience of
common retail promotions such as sales, coupons and discounts. Our goal
is to provide our customers with consistently outstanding values every
single day.”
In East Providence, A.J. Wright fills a vacancy that had been
frustrating city officials.
Jeanne Boyle, director of planning for the City of East Providence, said
the city has been attempting to fill the vacant building for years.
Initially, the East Providence City Council had given the go-ahead for
Bradlee’s to demolish the existing building and build a new store there.
However, Bradlee’s own financial problems forced them to abandon those
plans.
“We were very disappointed when that didn’t happen,” said Boyle. “We
have always supported the re-use of that shopping center.”
The A.J. Wright site is adjacent to a Toy Works store and just a short
walk from the Entertainment Cinemas off Newport Avenue. Other tenants in
the plaza include Super Stop & Shop, a hair salon and a Bertucci’s Brick
Oven Pizza.
“It’s a very visible building,” Boyle said. “The shopping center has
been successful otherwise. This is important for Newport Avenue in
general. To have a vacancy like that is a real negative.”
Barron believes the city is a good match for the fledgling discount
chain.
“The demographics are the most important thing,” he said. “There is a
good density of our target customer, income wise.”
A.J. Wright features a constantly changing “Special Buys” department in
an effort to keep shoppers returning. It is the first area a shopper
sees upon entering the store.
“This area will constantly change and will showcase the very best values
available in a wide variety of general merchandise categories,” said
George Iacono, president of A.J. Wright.
Values, said Barron, will be the key to A.J. Wright’s success. While the economy
is now strong, he said, Americans have learned the hard way of the importance
of getting the most bang for their buck. “For the American consumer, the concept
of value lives forever,” Barron said.
TJX Companies is the largest off-price retailer of apparel and home
fashions in the U.S. and worldwide, including 593 T.J. Maxx stores and
464 Marshalls stores.
TJX Companies recently reported the completion of a $250 million stock
repurchase program that began last February. A total of 11.2 million
common shares were purchased. The company’s board of directors has
authorized the repurchase of up to an additional $750 million of common
stock.
