T.J. Maxx Store Closures in 2026 and What Retail Workers Should Do Now

T.J. Maxx closed two of its best known stores this year, the three-story Boston Newbury Street shop and a Silver Spring, Maryland mall location, while its parent company kept adding stores. Inc. reports that T.J. Maxx closed two of its most recognizable stores earlier this year, and TJX's latest SEC filing shows the company increased its store count by 23 stores overall in the quarter ended August 1, 2026. At Metaintro we look at store closures from the side of the people on the payroll, and this one matters because the company closing the doors is expanding. A closure at a shrinking chain and a closure at a growing one call for different moves, and the difference comes down to what a transfer offer actually contains.

What happened

The Boston closure is the well documented one. Boston.com reported in September 2025 that in a Sept. 19 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act notice, T.J. Maxx announced the store at 360 Newbury St would close by Jan. 3, and 117 employees would be laid off on Jan. 5. The notice said the closure is permanent, that the affected employees are not represented by a union, and that the store would allow them to transfer to another location. Boston.com's report opened with the scale of it, saying that in a notice to the state, T.J. Maxx said it will close its Newbury Street store in early 2026, cutting more than 100 jobs.

The closure happened on schedule. CBS Boston confirmed in January that the three-story store, which opened in 2016 in a Frank Gehry-designed building at 360 Newbury Street, had closed less than a decade after it first opened, and that according to the WARN filing 117 employees were set to lose their jobs by Jan. 5, 2026, but TJX said all workers were offered opportunities at nearby stores.

117 employees were set to lose their jobs by January 5, 2026 under the WARN notice, and TJX said all were offered opportunities at nearby stores, according to CBS Boston.

The second closure got less coverage. Inc. reports that in Silver Spring, Maryland, T.J. Maxx closed its Ellsworth Place mall location, ending a 10-year run and affecting about 60 employees. Neither closure is large against the size of the brand, since Inc. notes that the discount chain operates more than 1,300 stores nationwide and is the flagship brand in TJX's global footprint.

The Newbury Street closure did not take the brand out of the city. Boston.com noted that there are two other T.J. Maxx locations in Boston, one in Downtown Crossing and another in South Bay Center, and CBS Boston reported that the TJ Maxx store in Boston's Downtown Crossing remains open. For the Newbury Street staff, those are the nearest places a transfer could land.

The company explained the Boston decision in terms of property, not trouble. In a statement quoted by Boston.com, a TJX spokesperson said that we are always assessing and reviewing our real estate strategies, and our decision to close this store reflects that thinking, adding that the Boston area has been the home for our headquarters for nearly 50 years and continues to be a very important market for us. Inc. reports more broadly that the company has framed each closure as routine real estate management rather than a sign of trouble.

Set that against the company's own filing and the framing holds up. In its latest quarterly results filed with the SEC, TJX reported that during the fiscal quarter ended August 1, 2026, the Company increased its store count by 23 stores overall to a total of 5,285 stores, and that consolidated comparable sales increased 4%, which was above the Company's plan. The same release says TJX plans to increase store growth to 4% beginning in FY28, so the company intends to open stores faster, not slower.

The growth was already visible when the store closed. CBS Boston noted in January that in its most recent quarterly earnings report in November, TJX said sales were up and it increased its store count by 57.

Where the coverage agrees, and where it splits

The outlets and the company agree that a closure here is a location decision. Inc. quotes an analyst at Placer.ai, a foot-traffic data software company, saying chains that continue to grow their footprint nationwide benefit from more strategic location selection, and that store fleet expansion involves creating the right store formats in the right locations for the right audience, which can require some pivots over time.

The split is between the consolidated result and the divisional one, and it is the part a T.J. Maxx worker should read most carefully. The same SEC filing quotes the chief executive saying that while sales at Marmaxx were below our expectations, HomeGoods, TJX Canada, and TJX International all delivered terrific comp sales increases of 6% to 7%. The filing's divisional table shows Marmaxx (U.S.) comparable sales up 1% and HomeGoods (U.S.) up 7%, and its footnote says Marmaxx includes TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Sierra stores. So the banner that closed these stores is still growing, just more slowly than the rest of TJX, and the chief executive added that we are seeing improvement at our Marmaxx division to start the quarter.

Sales at Marmaxx were below expectations while HomeGoods, TJX Canada and TJX International delivered comparable sales increases of 6% to 7%, according to TJX's second quarter filing with the SEC.

The store counts do not show T.J. Maxx being shrunk to feed the rest of the business. According to the store location table in the filing, the U.S. T.J. Maxx count went from 1,354 to 1,359 stores during the quarter. The same table shows Marshalls and HomeGoods also ending the quarter with more U.S. stores than they started with. Two well known closures sit inside a banner that still added stores on net, which is what a routine real estate decision looks like on paper.

The second split is about the transfer offer, and it is subtle. Boston.com reported the store would allow them to transfer to another location. CBS Boston reported TJX saying all workers were offered opportunities at nearby stores. Inc. says most of whom were offered positions at nearby stores. Allowed, all, and most are three different claims. None of the three reports says how many of the 117 actually took a transfer, at what hours, or at what commute, and the notice Boston.com described still lists them as laid off on Jan. 5. The gap between offered and taken is where a worker's real outcome lives.

TJX is not the only chain moving stores around this year, but the reasons differ. Coverage of JCPenney's closures as malls keep emptying, CVS reshaping its retail pharmacy footprint and H&M cutting its store count describes chains that are shrinking, while Victoria's Secret closing and opening stores in the same months is the closer match to what TJX is doing.

What this means for your job search

If you were offered a transfer, treat it as an offer to evaluate rather than a formality. Boston.com reported that the store will allow them to transfer to another location, and that wording says nothing about hours, schedule or role. Ask for the receiving store, your weekly hours, your position and your pay rate in writing before you accept, and ask whether the hours are guaranteed or depend on the receiving store's schedule. If the hours on offer are lower, compare the two jobs on weekly pay rather than hourly rate, and read up on how part-time employment works before you sign.

Look at the divisional numbers as well as the consolidated one when you judge your own position. TJX's SEC filing shows Marmaxx comparable sales growing more slowly than HomeGoods in the quarter, so an offer at a HomeGoods or HomeSense store is an offer at the banner with the stronger recent quarter. The filing does not say which stores TJX will close next, so treat each quarterly release as information about your employer rather than a forecast about your store.

Use the public help that a layoff notice opens up even if you accept a transfer. The U.S. Department of Labor says Rapid Response is initiated when the state or local Rapid Response team learns of impending layoffs, and that the team will provide you with information on the means to maintain an income (unemployment insurance), information on health insurance options, access to skills upgrading and training resources. Its guidance for workers adds that when an employer allows Rapid Response activities on site, you will be able to begin services, including training, before you lose your job, and warns that services and resources vary by state and by specific layoff situation. During Rapid Response, the department says, specialists trained to help you cope with job change will gather information about your current skills, your career interests, and other needs.

The department's guidance for employers explains that under certain conditions, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires employers to give their workers 60 day's notice before a plant closing or mass layoff, and points employers to your local American Job Center or state Dislocated Worker Unit. It tells employers that inviting Rapid Response teams to meet with affected workers before the layoff will allow your employees to access services and programs, and that perhaps the most important of these partners is the American Job Center. Its WARN Act compliance page says the department has compliance assistance materials to help workers and employers understand their rights and responsibilities under the provisions of WARN. If a transfer turns into fewer hours, read how to apply for unemployment benefits and why so many laid-off workers skip filing before you rule it out.

The harder case is the worker at a healthy chain. A chain in trouble prompts people to update a resume. A chain that is growing, describes the closure as routine and offers a transfer invites workers to relax, and that is when the terms of the transfer matter most. The 117 Newbury Street employees were listed as laid off in a WARN notice and offered transfers in a company statement, and those are different documents. The skills that carry a customer service worker into better paid roles are the ones a busy flagship store builds. Workers facing other closures have weighed the same choice, from staff at the first unionized Apple store to close to employees at closing Macy's locations.

Finally, do not let a two-store story stand in for a trend. TJX's filing shows it increased its store count by 23 stores overall in a single quarter, net of any closures. For a retail worker that is the useful number, because the employer that closed your store is still adding others, and you can browse job openings at Marshalls and T.J. Maxx as you compare. The question is not whether the chain has jobs. It is whether the one you are offered is as good as the one you had. Ask that question in writing before the closing date. If the answer is no, what to ask for in outplacement and severance and why laid off workers feel pressure to accept lower pay are the next reads.

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People Also Asked

Q: Is T.J. Maxx closing a lot of stores in 2026?

A: Not on the reporting so far. Inc. reports two closures, the Boston Newbury Street flagship and a Silver Spring, Maryland mall location, while noting the chain operates more than 1,300 stores nationwide. TJX's SEC filing shows it increased its store count by 23 stores overall in the quarter ended August 1, 2026.

Q: What happened to the Newbury Street employees?

A: Boston.com reported a WARN notice under which 117 employees will be laid off on Jan. 5, with the store allowing transfers to another location. CBS Boston reported TJX saying all workers were offered opportunities at nearby stores. None of those reports says how many accepted.

Q: Which TJX divisions had the strongest recent quarter?

A: TJX's SEC filing quotes the chief executive saying that HomeGoods, TJX Canada, and TJX International all delivered terrific comp sales increases of 6% to 7%, while sales at Marmaxx were below our expectations. Marmaxx is the U.S. division that includes T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, according to the filing.

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