The New England rumor mill has been forecasting the acquisition by TJX to save Bob’s Stores from the Kohl’s onslaught in the Northeast. TJX, parent to the familiar TJ Maxx and Marshall’s close-out stores, and the lesser-known HomeGoods, T.K. Maxx and A.J. Wright businesses, will purchase the 36-store value chain for roughly $100 million, less “various adjustments”, which could include inventory reductions and post-bankruptcy-filing trade payables.

TJX won’t be taking on all of Bob’s debt or leases, due to the structure of the deal that saw Bob’s file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Wednesday and TJX offering to acquire “substantially all of the assets” of Bob’s subsequent to those proceedings.

In the filing, Bob’s listed assets of $142 million, liabilities of $117 million and a net worth of $25 million.
Bob’s has a loyal following in its markets and is seen as one of the better big-box formats for athletic apparel and footwear. The retailer, which was founded in 1954 in Connecticut, counts most of the key athletic footwear and apparel brands as their vendors.

TJX said it views Bob’s Stores as a “start-up” opportunity, obviously looking far beyond New England and the current store count to position it above the current off-price formats, but below the specialty market.

Speculation in the market has TJX looking at the chain’s former gusto in the young men’s market and capitalizing on some of that cache with the male consumers’ focus on athletic apparel and footwear brands. It wasn’t long ago that male teenagers saw Bob’s as the destination of choice for sneakers and related apparel. One sales VP we spoke with speculated that the potential target competition here is less Kohl’s and their young family demographic, but more so the “mall guys” like Foot Locker and Finish Line.

Another footwear VP we spoke with suggested that the guys now prefer to “hang at the mall” and retailers do better when they are “close to the food court”, suggesting today’s teens are less likely to leave the mall to shop.
Whatever the approach and ultimate model, it is clear that Bob’s now has fuel to grow a model that many saw promise in not too long ago. Some vendors will get hurt a bit with the Chapter 11 filing, but they appear to be realists that this will lead to bigger things down the road as TJX adds capital where capital is sorely needed.

Many see that MarMaxx model reaching saturation, while the younger consumer is left with few places to go to find product they want at value pricing in an environment that works for them.


>>> We have to wonder if the TJX move into full retail is a defensive measure as vendors and retailers tighten inventories, leading to fewer “big-buy” deals for the MarMaxx folks