TJX Cos. Inc. (Framingham, Mass.) plans to open an online store this year for its T.J. Maxx division, CNBC reports.
This will be the company’s second stab at e-commerce. It abandoned its 2005 after only a year following poor sales, a $15 million failure. But ceo Carol Meyrowitz says “e-commerce is clearly in our future.”
In 2011, it hired Elaine Boltz, a leading e-commerce executive. Last year, it spent about $200 million to buy online retailer Sierra Trading for its technology and expertise.
Avondale Partners, a Nashville-based equity research firm, told the Reuters News Agency it thinks TJX can quickly develop online sales of $1 billion a year.
The company declined to comment beyond what its chief executive has said on investor calls, but Morningstar analyst Jaime Katz thinks TJX will carve out space at its current distribution facilities to handle e-commerce, rather than spend millions on a fulfillment center.