bargins
...n — at deeply discounted prices. As a result, sales are soaring at discount retailers such as T.J. Maxx, A.J. Wright, Value City, Burlington Coat Factory and Loehmann’s. “Consumers are voting with their checkbooks,” said Ellen Tolley, spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation in Washington, D.C. “For the last several years, the consumer has been focused on one thing: price. The economy is struggling ... and consumers are willing to shop at a variety of different stores in a variety of different locations to get the best price they can.” TJX Cos. Inc., a Framingham, Mass., firm that owns T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, A.J. Wright and Homegoods, posted sales of $13.3 billion in fiscal 2004, up 39 percent from fiscal 2000. Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp., based in Burlington, N.J., saw its sales jump 23 percent to fiscal 2003 from fiscal 2000. Their success comes in stark contrast to department stores such as Sears, Roebuck and Co. and J.C. Penney’s, which have posted declining or flat sales in recent years. “The stigma of (off-price) shopping is gone,” said Ed Nakfoor, a retail consultant in Birmingham. “People have sort of programmed themselves to save wherever they can. “They wear these great deals as a badge of honor — See, look at the cashmere sweater I got for next to nothing.’ “There are certain goods that people don’t want to spend a lot of money on and everyone likes something at a discount. It’s not like they are going to sell a shirt with ...