Ross and T.J. Maxx are winning the retail wars as shoppers flock to off-price stores to battle higher costs

The following sentence might cause anxiety. As Thanksgiving looms near, it’s time to begin holiday shopping.

The current level of inflation makes that even more stressful. How can you show your love without breaking the bank?

It turns out, shoppers are turning to off-price retailers such as Ross, T.J. Maxx, and HomeGoods, according to recent earnings reports and data from location analytics company Placer.ai.

Let’s break down the numbers.

Ross Stores posts rosy earnings

It’s fair to say that Jim Conroy, CEO of Ross Stores, is very pleased with the third-quarter earnings report released on Thursday, November 20.

The company earned $1.58 per share, resulting in a $512 million profit. This is an increase from last year’s figures of $1.48 per share and $489 million in profit.

When you zoom out beyond Q3, the numbers are equally as impressive. Ross’s year-to-date sales earnings are $16.1 billion, which is a 3% increase.

People are clearly bargain shopping to get through these hard economic times and it’s safe to predict this trend will only continue to grow in the holiday shopping season.

Foot traffic is reportedly up at off-price retailers

Do you ever feel like you are being watched? Well, your cellphone is collecting data on you, most likely with permission buried deep in the terms and conditions of some of the apps downloaded on your phone.

Placer.ai uses mobile-device data that is anonymized and aggregated to analyze customer behavior. It estimates how much foot traffic certain stores get and how long customers linger.

According to the analytics platform, things are good for off-price retailers.

TJX HomeGoods, which includes both HomeGoods and Homesense stores, saw a 9.6% increase in shopper volume in the third quarter, according to data shared with Fast Company.

Similarly, TJX Marmaxx, which includes TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Sierra stores, saw an 8.1% increase in store traffic.

And store visits at Ross rose 9.4%.

Target cannot say the same. The company’s store visitors declined 2.7% year-over-year in Q3, according to Placer.ai. The big-box retailer’s struggles were apparent in its third-quarter earnings report, which saw $25.3 billion in sales, around 1.5% lower than the same quarter last year.

Ross has been opening new stores in 2025

Because of its overwhelming success, Ross is doubling down to keep this momentum going.

In October, the retailer announced that it had opened 36 Ross Dress for Less and four Dd’s Discounts stores in October and September. These store locations span 17 states.

In an economy where many brick-and-mortar retail chains are closing stores, this is no small accomplishment.

Shares of Ross Stores (NYSE: ROST) are up 6.64% this week. TJX Companies stock (NYSE: TJX) is up 3.67%.

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