Home improvement performed well, accounting for 40% of TJX's sales

That was up from 33% the year before . HomeGoods' Q4 open-only general store sales were up 12%.

It’s a remarkable turn for a company that has always relied on clothing to drive its business.

TJX certainly took advantage of the overall strength of its home improvement business in adding to these stellar numbers, a result of everyone spending a lot of time in their homes and subsequently focusing on remodeling and redecorating.

But for off-price leader TJX, home furnishings have been a clear savior in this pandemic year, with U.S. stores shuttered for much of last spring. Even now, nearly 700 locations, mostly in Europe and Canada, or 15% of the total, remain closed.

Small-format general stores saw overall sales fall 3% in the fourth quarter . That was better than expected, but that didn't stop its stock from falling about 5% after it released its earnings.

TJX is using HomeGoods as a bellwether for its nascent e-commerce efforts when it launches its online home decor site later this year . While TJX Companies operates a modest online presence across its several nameplates, it has been slow to enter the e-commerce business, saying its "treasure hunt" sales format was difficult to translate online.

But that view has clearly changed as digital shopping has surged since the pandemic began a year ago .

Meanwhile, TJX's other home furnishing brand, Homesense, continues to slowly gain momentum. TJX, which appears to be focusing more on furniture and less on home textiles and housewares, increased its U.S. store count from 32 to 34 last year . Its revenue numbers are lumped into HomeGoods, so it's unknown how sales are performing at what's still a relatively new brand.

In a conference call with analysts after reporting results, the company said that despite having to deal with supply chain issues, it expects to receive a large volume of merchandise given the troubles facing other channels in the retail industry.

“We believe we have a significant opportunity to capture additional market share even after a vaccine becomes widely available and the prospect of a recovery in consumer spending and ‘revenge shopping’ is in place,” Chief Executive Officer Ernie Herrman said on the call.

Now more than ever, those opportunities for TJX are increasingly in the home improvement space.

Home Decor

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