The new/relocated Burlington store in Turnersville Washington Township opened a few days ago, and I stopped in yesterday to see what the smaller-format store was like.
An all new location for West Berlin NJ opens on November 11th 2022.
Burlington Corporate had previously announced they were going to double the number of locations to 2,000, but in a smaller store format than what their shoppers were familiar with.
Along with the growth in the number of locations, it seems they are also looking to reduce the size of the original larger format stores, where leasing terms allow.
This move seems to bring Burlington in-line (size) with competitor store experiences. As a comparison of the size, the Marshall stores in Turnersville and Audubon are a similar size at 23,000-25,000 sq ft.
For Turnersville this meant moving from their former 90,000 sq ft location at the Washington Plaza which opened in 1999, to a 23,500 sq ft location two miles up the road in a former OfficeMax property (which is attached to Target).
The Burlington Grand Opening page lists 38 new store openings in November!
I’ve covered this story a few times for Turnersville and West Berlin as they were proposed and developed so not going to be too wordy here. But since this is the first smaller format Burlington store I’ve seen, I thought I would share.
The Deptford Burlington store was opened in 2015 and was developed as a 60,000 sq ft store. They currently still operate the Burlington store there but use a reduced amount of the space.
Burlington was originally know as The Burlington Coat Factory, and decades ago the larger stores really did focus a majority of their space on coats, at discount prices.
Today they are a more well-rounded fashion-focused retailer offering merchandise at up to 60% off other retailers’ prices, including women’s ready-to-wear apparel, menswear, youth apparel, baby, beauty, footwear, accessories, home, toys, gifts and coats
Burlington Store in Turnersville Smaller Format
So a big driver for the smaller stores is to reduce the number of inventory items maintained, which then reduces overall costs.
But honestly this inventory change had already happened locally. as for both the Deptford store and the original Turnersville store, Burlington has previously started to use a much smaller portion of the large buildings.
So this is more about making the store building fit the merchandise inside.
While I am not an accomplished Burlington Store shopper, it seems they still carry the same categories of products… just not as many in the store.
So they they still carry the same category of products in the store, just maybe not the same broader amount of choices as before.
Remember looking across a sea of winter coat racks in the old Burlington Coat Factory stores? Well they still have a huge selection… but maybe a lake instead of a sea!
Overall it’s still a large store
Prior 42Freeway coverage on the new stores
- Jan 22, 2022: Burlington Store Turnersville Relocating, Deptford Reduced Interior
- Feb 28, 2022: Burlington Store Coming to W. Berlin NJ. Taking Over Former Modell’s Location
- Oct 9, 2002: Burlington Stores for Turnersville And West Berlin Look for November Opening. Now Hiring
Links and Locations
Burlington Turnersville – Now Open!
3921 Route 42 (Black Horse Pike)
Turnersville, NJ
Burlington West Berlin – Opens Nov 11
Berlin Circle Plaza
Route 73 & Walker Avenue
Berlin, NJ 08091