Employee here. It wasn't profitable. A lot of items ordered would come broken due to shipping and then they were just returned to the stores where they would be marked out and thrown away. More on reddit.com

I used to work for corporate and to answer your question, the company has grown so big that there isn’t enough overstocked genuine product. They’ve resorted to the white-label model, where TJX funds the production of goods, the brands sign off on using their name/logo, and they must show “savings” of at least 20% between the suggested retail and ticketed price. TJX was once a respectable retailer that sold desirable merchandise for a bargain. Their new business model and pursuit of high unit sales will be the downfall of this planet. More on reddit.com

Food: Make sure to check the date because sometimes expired food goes unnoticed on the shelves. Also, make sure it's sealed because I've seen way too many people open and sample food and put it back. More on reddit.com

Here's the thing: I used to work at a Ross, like ten years ago. Most of the inventory there is specifically manufactured for these types of clearances retailers, like TJ Maxx, Burlington, and Marshalls (spoiler: they're all basically the same store with slightly different price points and focuses). If you're there long enough you see the same shit from the same brands coming through over and over again. You don't see those things at any other stores. I haven't worked there in a decade and I still see the same clothes and decor on the racks that they had when I was there. The inventory and stores are deliberately almost like thrift stores, where you might find something unique, but that's a lie. There are always Calvin Klein dresses and blazers. There are always Michael Kors jackets and purses. There are always occasional mid range brands, like Lucky. There are always August Silk sweaters and a million discount boho lines. Also, there's nothing there that's like, amazing. Never once in my time working at Ross did I ever see something that took my breath away. It's just normal pricing for cheap shit, frankly. It's the perception of a great deal that fuels these places, which is carefully curated with A FEW things that actually trickle down from other stores at good prices. (Those things are picked out and gone almost immediately, often by the employees themselves or by customers in the first couple hours.) It's a store based on a treasure hunt mentality, which encourages you to buy things that you don't actually love just because it's a deal. It's ridiculous. (I'll also point out that none of these stores ever actually do sales--they only ever mark down inventory on a schedule, based on how long the inventory has been in the store. Yet are these stores still slammed on discount holidays like Black Friday? Yes. Why? I have no fucking idea, because all the shit is exactly the same price on Black Friday as every other day of the year.) Anyway, my point is, if you take the shine of the hunt off these stores, which you absolutely should because you're never going to get an amazing magical treasure as a find and all the inventory is the same shit cycling through every year, you can see them for what they are. If you switch positions to only seeing them as a place to get right-priced cheap stuff, these are good stores to find specific basics, like inexpensive kitchen gear that will wear out and need to be replaced at any price point (nonstick pans or wooden spoons), or things like candles or cheap emergency outfits for job interviews or something. The rest are cheap tchotkes, unsold/rejected or flawed inventory from other stores, furniture made of foam and particle board, or expired items. Also, having worked at Ross, I'd never buy any perishable, food, or cosmetic items from any of these stores. They're all old when they get there, and a lot of that stuff sits in the stores for 6+ months. Unsupervised children also tend to stick their fingers in bottles and palettes. These things are not thrown away; they're capped/cleaned up/whatever and put back, maybe on clearance, because management only scheduled three people to close on a Saturday, the store is bombed, it's been two hours cleaning up, and all the associates just want to go home. It's gross. Don't buy it. More on reddit.com