T.J. Maxx returns to isles, plans to open 3 stores

T.J. Maxx, the national discount retailer, will open three stores on Oahu in May, in the same areas as rival Ross Dress for Less.

Marking its re-entrance into the Hawaii market after 15 years, the retail chain will open a 35,000-square-foot store at Ward Centers, followed by a second outlet at Pearl Highlands Center and another at Pearlridge Center’s Uptown by mid-May. The company didn’t disclose how many employees it intends to hire for the stores.

The retailer will fill the second floor of the two-story Ward Village Shops complex on Auahi Street. The space was previously leased to Whole Foods Market and is adjacent to a new 732-stall parking garage.

The chain is a rival to Ross, which opened late last year a nearly 40,000-square-foot megastore in Waikiki. There are Ross stores located in Pearl Highlands, Pearlridge and Ward Gateway Center.

"When you go head to head with your competition, what it does is it actually creates synergy," said Hono­lulu retail consultant Steph­any Sofos. "You’re going to go where the competition is, and if you can provide slightly better service and better product, you’re going to gain market share very quickly. They feed off each other and capture the whole market base for discount retailing."

T.J. Maxx, part of The TJX Cos. Inc. of Massachusetts, sells brand-name apparel, jewelry, home items and other merchandise at 20 percent to 60 percent below department store prices.

The TJX Cos. left the Hawaii market in July 1996 when it sold the leasehold rights to six retail locations — including a T.J. Maxx outlet at the Stadium Marketplace — to Ross Stores Inc.

The economic downturn of recent years has benefited the discounters as customers look for more value, which has prompted discount retailers to seek out new markets.

"I believe that people are very conservative now," Sofos said. "Taxes have gone up, gas has gone up. As this recession has grown and prolonged itself, people are just becoming much more aware of how to get the biggest bang for their buck."