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Empty storefronts have become almost a recurring chapter in retail's current story, with high operating costs and thinning foot traffic squeezing chains across the board. Nordstrom, Saks and Macy's have all recently been forced to shutter locations, and now T.J. Maxx is writing its own entry into that same narrative.

The Latest Round of Closures

T.J. Maxx has confirmed the off-price chain is closing three locations this year, with the affected stores located in Massachusetts and Maryland. The company has not yet announced specific closure dates for any of the three.

Where the Doors Are Closing

Shoppers in these communities will lose access to the following locations:

Massachusetts

• 360 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02115

Maryland

• 8661 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910
• 1262 Vocke Road, Cumberland, MD 21502

Not the First Round This Year

This isn't TJX's first wave of closures in 2026. Earlier this year, the company — which also owns Marshalls, HomeGoods, HomeSense and Sierra — shut down two high-profile T.J. Maxx locations: a flagship store in Boston and another at a popular Maryland mall.

Two Flagship Locations Already Gone

The three-story Newbury Street location in Boston closed its doors for good on Jan. 5, after serving shoppers for nearly a decade. The closure was confirmed through a Massachusetts WARN notice, which showed 117 workers were affected by the shutdown.

A Mall Anchor Store Exits Silver Spring

Meanwhile, the T.J. Maxx store in Silver Spring, Maryland, closed its location at the Ellsworth Place mall after a 10-year run, a closure that resulted in roughly 60 workers losing their jobs.

Why Closures Don't Necessarily Spell Trouble

Elizabeth Lafontaine of Placer.ai, a foot-traffic data software company, told Inc. that while store closures can jolt loyal shoppers, this kind of reevaluation is actually standard practice for large retail chains like T.J. Maxx. "Chains that continue to grow their footprint nationwide benefit from more strategic location selection," Lafontaine said. "Store fleet expansion involves creating the right store formats in the right locations for the right audience, which can require some pivots over time" — essentially framing these closures as fine-tuning rather than retreat.

Growth Outpacing the Closures

Despite dimming the lights at a handful of stores, T.J. Maxx is actually opening more locations than it's closing. The company has 11 new stores planned to open in 2027, a figure that comfortably outpaces the handful of closures making headlines this year.

Leadership's Vision for Expansion

TJX CEO Ernie Herrman said during an Aug. 19 earnings call that storefronts across the TJX portfolio plan to increase overall store growth from 3% to 4%, starting next year, "to take advantage of the growth opportunities we see out there." That stated ambition suggests a company actively expanding its footprint even as it trims specific underperforming locations.

A Global Footprint Already in Place

TJX currently operates 5,285 stores spanning 10 countries, including the United States, Canada, Spain and the United Kingdom — a sprawling international presence that gives the company considerable flexibility in where it chooses to grow next.

Chasing Demand Where It Actually Exists

CFO John Klinger elaborated further on the earnings call, explaining that the company is deliberately targeting locations where demand is strongest. "We're seeing opportunities in rural markets, where we see department stores are closing," Klinger said. "We've experienced strong comp growth for so many quarters that we're seeing the ability to put stores closer together than we thought before. And then, we want to build the small-format store that allows us to expand in a lot of densely populated urban areas, as well."

In other words, while these three closures in Massachusetts and Maryland may sting for local shoppers, they appear to be part of a broader strategic reshuffling rather than a sign of retreat — a company trimming specific branches while continuing to grow new ones elsewhere across both rural and urban markets alike.