Tuesday Morning Is Going Out Of Business Forever
Tuesday Morning, a long-time discount home goods store, is going out of business.
If you’re digging through your wallet, and happen upon a Tuesday Morning gift card, then you better cash in on it soon. According to Independent Record, the American household discount store will be going out of business, and closing its remaining 200 stores in the coming weeks. So if you’re looking for a bargain, the retailer will have 30% discounts as its locations start closing, and will be honoring gift cards through May 13, 2023.
There are a number of factors that contribute to the closure of Tuesday Morning. Like many other businesses that faced irreversible financial difficulties during the COVID-19 Pandemic, the retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2020, permanently closing 230 of its underperforming stores. After emerging from bankruptcy in December 2020, Tuesday Morning’s stock continued to plummet, which led to a second bankruptcy filing on February 14, 2023.
Tuesday Morning’s second bankruptcy caused them to close half of their remaining stores shortly after filing. And in the coming weeks we’ll see the remaining 200 stores close for good, which will put an end to the company’s 49 year legacy. This news came just five days after Bed Bath & Beyond announced that they will be liquidating, and shutting down as well.
At their peak in 2018, Tuesday Morning boasted over 700 locations, and had sales over $1 billion. But extended store closures during the height of the pandemic put the company in the red, and they never fully recovered from this “insurmountable financial hurdle.” And this hurdle proved impossible to overcome due to a decrease in consumer spending, as well as increased interest rates that have made it more difficult for companies in similar situations to borrow.
Though many may think that the lack of an online store contributed to the downfall of Tuesday Morning, this isn’t necessarily the case. In fact, discount closeout stores don’t make a significant amount of sales online, as their allure often comes from the “treasure hunt” aspect that the in-store shopping experience offers. There’s just something satisfying about finding a slick-looking pair of workout pants marked down from $100 to $30.
And it’s worth noting that Tuesday Morning did once have an online shop. However, they stopped selling products online in 2013, stating that their online store only brought in one percent of their sales. So from a financial standpoint, the maintenance and upkeep of an online store was probably not a worthy expenditure if 99 percent of their business was conducted at brick-and-mortar locations.
Similarly, other discount closeout retailers like TJ Maxx don’t pull great numbers through their e-commerce efforts either. From 2020-2023, TJ Maxx only saw three percent or less of total revenue from their online sales, so it’s safe to say that Tuesday Morning was right to put a stop to their own e-commerce efforts when they did.
Ultimately, Tuesday Morning’s downfall began with the pandemic, and they were never able to fully bounce back from their initial bankruptcy despite their efforts. Not only did stores start closing in 2020, but debts to existing vendors continued to pile up.
Though companies like TJ Maxx and Ross Dress for Less offer a similar customer experience, they were able to remain relatively stable because of their size and scale compared to Tuesday Morning. In other words, Tuesday Morning didn’t have enough capital to stay afloat, and they, unfortunately, couldn’t make it through to the other side.
