// TK Maxx has overtaken Topshop as the UK’s sixth-largest fashion group
// The retailer is known for selling stock that other brands have been unable to sell
TK Maxx has reportedly edged out Arcadia’s Topshop to become the UK’s sixth-largest fashion group.
The discounter, owned by TJX UK, has said it hopes its excess stock from different brands will further boost its position, The Guardian reported.
TK Maxx snaps up mostly in-season fashion items which department stores and high-street chains have been unable to sell.
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The retailer receives its stock from 21,000 different sources and is mainly excess production, cancelled orders or overstocks.
A small amount is produced exclusively for the chain by brands or for its own labels, which include Arabella, Addison and Amaryllis.
TJX Europe director Deborah Dolce said the company is “confident the mix in the second half is going to be very exciting”.
She added that as well as clothing, TK Maxx also receives products from categories including beauty, homewares and children’s clothing in an effort to meet demand.
In the month between stores reopening in July and August, sales in the group’s international arm, largely made up of its UK business, but also including stores in Germany, Ireland, Poland, the Netherlands and Australia, declined by one per cent year-on-year.
Meanwhile, the UK business, the only one in Europe to have an online store, performed better, according to Dolce.
Overall, sales for the international division dropped by 31 per cent to $880 million (£690 million) in the three months to August 1 and fell to a $131 million loss from a $50.4 million profit in the same period a year before due to the forced store closures.
However, Dolce maintained that the UK division has performed stronger than its rivals while retailers such as Debenhams, House of Fraser and John Lewis all closed outlets permanently.
TK Maxx said it is looking to expand, mainly through its Home Sense homewares chain.
The retailer, owned by a US company, launched in the UK in 1994 with its first store in Bristol.
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