RETAIL DRESS DOWN

T.J. Maxx stumbles

Storm clouds gathered Tuesday over the last sunny patch of apparel retailing.

Off-price retailers, which had weathered the consumer spending pullback that is decimating department stores, were shaken when the 800-pound gorilla of the sector reported disappointing first-quarter results.

TJX Cos., which owns 2,230 T.J.Maxx and Marshalls stores in the US, said samestore sales in the three months ended April 29 were flat from last year.

Wall Street was expecting a gain of 1.5 percent after TJX posted a 6 percent gain last year.

For TJX, the darling of the retail sector, it was the worst quarter in three years.

Analysts said the poor showing was the result of increased competition — as many department stores have rolled out off-price nameplates.

“The price advantage that the off-pricers had always enjoyed is diminishing,” said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners.

TJX shares closed down 4.1 percent in the wake of the disappointing results, to $73.76.

“Maybe this is the beginning of the slowdown of the off-price sector,” Edward Jones analyst Brian Yarbrough said. “But it would take another two quarters like this one to convince me that that’s the case.”

TJX, for its part, blamed bad weather for lousy sales in February — like nearly every other apparel retailer that reported sales this month — and late tax refund checks for its woes in the quarter.

Chief Executive Ernie Herrman said the second half of the quarter went better, as did the first two weeks of May.

Industry experts say TJX, which sells 9 percent of the $300 billion in apparel sold in the US, will likely bounce back given its strong track record and the retail carnage around it.

“All of these store closures and bankruptcies are favorable to the off-price sector,” JPMorgan analyst Matthew Boss said, but he noted that TJX’s weaker quarter shows “it is not immune from the larger apparel picture.”

Over the last two years, demand for apparel has declined from 2 percent growth to a negative 1.5 percent this year, according to Customer Growth Partners’ research.

Separately, Home Depot reported on Tuesday that same-store sales gained 5.5 percent in the quarter as consumers continued to invest in their homes.

The average Home Depot shopper spent 4 percent more per visit in the period than in the prior year’s quarter.

“We were pleased with our results as they reflected broad-based growth across all geographies,” said Home Depot CEO Craig Menear.

Home Depot shares closed up 93 cents, to $158.26.