TJ Maxx is packing up its longtime spot on South Boulevard and moving roughly a mile down the road, where it's set to anchor a newly renovated shopping center called Seneca Square. The relocation puts the discount retailer at 5107 South Blvd., just off the intersection of South Boulevard and Tyvola Road, with a grand opening planned for Nov. 19.
The move takes TJ Maxx from its current 31,954-square-foot store at 4726 South Blvd. into a smaller footprint at the new site, according to The Charlotte Observer. That outlet reports the new space at 25,570 square feet, while Cedar Square puts the figure at 25,750 square feet in a building that formerly housed an Office Depot. Either way, the new store will be noticeably smaller than the one it's leaving behind, which sits less than a mile away.
Shoppers can expect the same mix TJ Maxx is known for: brand-name and designer fashion, accessories, beauty products, jewelry and home goods at discounted prices, per the Observer's reporting. The new location is also being built out with an easier shopping layout, bright and spacious dressing rooms, and a single-line queue meant to speed up checkout.
Grand Opening Timing Still Fuzzy
Sources differ on exactly when the doors will open on Nov. 19. The Observer's reporting puts the start time at 9:30 a.m., while The Charlotte Ledger reports an 8 a.m. opening that same day. Either way, shoppers eager to be first through the door should plan for an early arrival.
Maddie Peters, speaking to the Observer, said TJ Maxx regularly assesses and reviews its real estate strategies, and that the decision to relocate reflects that ongoing thinking. Peters also said TJ Maxx stores typically hire between 50 and 100 full- and part-time employees, suggesting the new Seneca Square location could bring a batch of local jobs along with it.
Seneca Square's Bigger Makeover
TJ Maxx isn't the only thing changing at the shopping center. Cedar Square reported that Ascent, which bought the property, plans to improve the aesthetics and functionality of Seneca Square as part of a broader revamp, with the retailer becoming the anchor tenant. Accounts of the center's total size give it as 77,000 square feet. A commercial listing from CommercialSearch separately shows 26,358 square feet of retail space currently available for lease across seven spaces at the property, though Cedar Square's own reporting put the leasable space at roughly 25,000 square feet.
TJX Companies, the Framingham, Massachusetts-based parent of TJ Maxx, also owns HomeGoods, Marshalls and HomeSense. The company has more than 1,300 stores across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, including more than a dozen in the Charlotte region, according to the Observer's reporting.
What Happens to the Old Store
The soon-to-be-vacated TJ Maxx building isn't likely to sit empty for long. Lowes Foods submitted plans in August to renovate the existing Burlington store at 4726 South Blvd., adding a drive-thru and parking lot improvements, though the grocery chain has not finalized those submitted plans. Elsewhere in the region, Lowes Foods has also filed plans, reported by the Charlotte Business Journal, to renovate a 48,000-square-foot Burlington store at Woodlawn Marketplace, a project that would mark the chain's ninth grocery store in the Charlotte region. Woodlawn Marketplace, a 110,000-square-foot center anchored by The Home Depot, also includes Micro Center and Burlington among its tenants.
For now, the clearest date on the calendar is Nov. 19, when TJ Maxx's new Seneca Square location is set to open its doors, bringing the discount retailer's familiar racks of clothing and home goods to a reshaped corner of South Boulevard.
