Burlington Stores Plans 110 New Locations Amid Record Growth
Burlington Stores Inc. is seizing the moment. Capitalizing on the inflationary economy, shopper demands for greater value and the real estate made available by bankruptcies, Burlington has been generating healthy sales gains about two years and is expanding at an accelerated rate. This year, the plan is to launch a record 110 new stores. A 2-million-square-foot distribution center in Savannah, Ga., is due to open soon. By the end of 2026, Burlington will operate approximately 1,320 units.
But on Friday, the retailer will cut the ribbon on something special - one of its highest-profile and largest units, an 80,000-square-foot, two-level store at 620 Sixth Avenue inside the historic Beaux-Art style Siegel-Cooper building also housing TJMaxx and Marshalls. The site, located between 18th and 19th streets, already has some retail history as Siegel-Cooper, in 1897, opened what was then the largest department store in the world there.
More recently, the space was occupied by Bed, Bath & Beyond. Situated in the heart of Manhattan's bustling Chelsea neighborhood, the store has now been redesigned again with Burlington's "reimagined" format featuring wider aisles, enhanced signage and a layout intended to make it easier for shoppers to find what they want while also cutting down on merchandise clutter.
"We expect Chelsea to be among our top-volume stores," said Burlington's chief executive officer, Michael O'Sullivan, in an exclusive interview. "There's a lot of buzz about Chelsea. It's a very visible new store for us, and a relocation from a store that was just a few blocks away."
Nationwide, he said Burlington would "probably grow by about 10 percent in sales volume" this year.
"A big chunk of that is our new store program, and there's also some comp store growth there too," O'Sullivan said. "We expect all of our new stores to be fairly productive and profitable their first year.
"I hate to take advantage of other people's misfortunes, with all the retail bankruptcies that have happened, but over the last few years, we've picked up dozens and dozens of great store locations, from Bed, Bath & Beyond, Big Lots, and most recently, Jo-Ann Fabrics. A lot of retailers have gone out of business over the last few years, not because they had bad real estate, but because they had other some other business problem. In fact, their real estate was very good."
Burlington entered this year with momentum, coming off a strong 2025 when total sales increased 9 percent to $11.55 billion, comparable sales rose 2 percent, and net income advanced 21 percent to $610.15 million. For the fourth quarter, total sales increased 11 percent to $3.64 billion, while comparable store sales were up 4 percent.
The off-pricer's stores offer an extensive selection of in-season, branded merchandise at up to 60 percent off, including women's and men's apparel in regular and special sizes, youth apparel, baby products, beauty, footwear, accessories, home, toys, gifts and cosmetics. In its "treasure hunt" for bargains, you can find styles from Tommy Hilfiger, Gloria Vanderbilt, Adidas, Kenneth Cole, DKNY, Juicy Couture, and Karl Lagerfeld, among other well-known brands. The Chelsea site will bring in fresh merchandise weekly.
O'Sullivan, Burlington's CEO since September 2019, has been modernizing the off-pricer and elevating its financial performance. Prior to joining Burlington, he spent 16 years at Ross Stores, the nation's second-largest retailer, ultimately rising to president and chief operating officer in 2009. Before Ross, O'Sullivan was a partner at Bain & Co.
In the following Q&A, O'Sullivan discusses Burlington's transformation, expansion strategy and what's special about the Chelsea opening.
