HomeGoods abruptly turns its back on e-commerce

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. – Just two years after launching its online store, HomeGoods is dropping out of the e-commerce rat race.

In an email to customers on Oct. 18, HomeGoods announced that the last day to shop the site will be Saturday, Oct. 21, according to reports from Parade and other outlets.

In the email, HomeGoods said it will soon announce a host of new store openings. That news could arrive when parent company TJX Cos. releases its Q3 results, which is expected to take place in mid-November. At the end of the second quarter, HomeGoods had 907 stores.

TJX Cos. also operates online sites for TJMaxx (launched September 2013) and Marshalls (launched September 2019) off-price nameplates. Company executives have repeatedly noted that e-commerce accounts for a small percentage of total sales.

For the second quarter ended July 29, HomeGoods’ comp rose 4%, bouncing back from a 7% decline in the first quarter and compared with a 13% decline in the year-ago period. The lift was driven by a significant increase in traffic.

Total HomeGoods sales climbed 8% to $2 billion for the quarter. The company said in mid-August that it expected HomeGoods to continue generating positive comps during the second half of the year.

“We thought there would be incremental improvement. Clearly, it even exceeded our expectations,” company CEO and President Ernie Herrman told investors during TJX’s quarterly review call on Aug. 16.

See also:

• Home rebounds at TJX Cos. – and is expected to keep on rolling
• Could HomeGoods be a bellwether for the broader home business?