Wayfair Is Adding Outlet Stores in Repurposed Big Box Retail Space--And Alongside Other Retailers In Sections Of Their Retail Stores
Wayfair is opening new outlet stores in real estate vacated by Big Box retailers and is even repurposing sections of operating stores--as it did inside a Cincinnati-area Staples store
In June online retailer Wayfair W 0.00%↑ opened an outlet store in an Attleboro, MA shopping center.
Wayfair Outlet is located in space that was previously occupied by the now-bankrupt Bob’s Stores retail chain.
It is 1 of 7 outlet stores that Wayfair operates throughout the U.S., all of which have opened in the past 3 years.
In August Wayfair also opened its first outlet store in Canada.
It is occupying a former DSW store in Burlington, Ontario.
And last week Wayfair opened its newest outlet store in Chandler, AZ.
It is located in a Big Box suite that was previously occupied by Conn’s HomePlus, a furniture retailer that filed for bankruptcy in 2024.
Wayfair Outlet stores primarily sell returned items as well as discounted products in good condition across a variety of categories that include furniture, bath, kitchen equipment and home decor.
The stores do not offer refunds or accept returns from items purchased either at the store or in the Wayfair website.
Other furniture retailers have also turned to vacant 2nd generation Big Box space to open a network of outlet stores.
Like luxury home furnishings retailer RH.
In addition to its 80+ high-end Galleries located in major cities, RH also operates a network of more than 40 outlet stores across the U.S..
Most RH Outlet stores are located in Big Box suites that were vacated by bankrupt retailers such as Toys R Us and Bed Bath & Beyond.
Re-tenanting vacant Big Box space has been a cost effective and opportunistic pathway for Wayfair to grow and develop its network of outlet stores.
Wayfair has opened its new outlet stores quickly and cost-effectively in 2nd generation retail space.
And Wayfair has been opportunistic in its pursuit of real estate vacated by bankrupt retailers like The Christmas Tree Shops, Conn’s and buybuyBaby.
But Wayfair is also experimenting with other physical retail formats for its outlet store network.
Earlier this year Wayfair closed a 20,000 square foot warehouse and outlet combo store that it had operated for 5 years in the Cincinnati suburb of Florence, Kentucky.
Wayfair, though, did not exit the Cincinnati market.
Last November the Company opened a new Cincinnati-area outlet store—in a section of a ~25,000 square foot Staples store.
This Wayfair Outlet-in-Staples store offers a selection of home, furniture and decor products that are advertised at ~50-70% off online prices.
And this "store-in-store" model may provide Wayfair with an even faster and less expensive opportunity to build its outlet store network.
Even though Staples has closed over 600 stores during the past decade, the office supplies retailer still operates approximately 1,000 North American stores.
But demand for paper and printing products has been weaker in the past few years—so Staples does not need as much physical retail space as it once did.
The venture with Wayfair may allow Staples to better utilize (and monetize) parts of its remaining store fleet and even draw more traffic to its stores.
Of course a potential Wayfair/Staples partnership is not a new approach.
Other retailers like Kohls, Macy’s and Target operate store-in-store partnerships with brands like Sephora, Toys R Us and CVS Pharmacy.
But the store-in-store partnership could be a “win-win” for both Wayfair and Staples.
Particularly if Wayfair wants to quickly build a large outlet store network and Staples maintain, monetize and maximize its fleet.