TG Burley's (retail store)

### Key people

Takao Nishida (President - CEO)Winnifred Michiharu "the Pooh" Harada (Executive Chairman)

Mason Richards Hirata (CFO)

### Products

Clothing, footwear, bedding and domestics, toys and giftware

### Number of locations

Asia - 643 (November 2020)Australia - 293 (January 2021)

### Parent

TJX CompaniesKimura Store Facilities Asia Ltd.

### Divisions

Kimura-Woolworth's Canada Ltd.Kimura Woolworth's Retail Stores Japan K.K.

### Subsidiaries

T.G. Burley's Australia Pty Ltd.TG Burley's Hawaii Inc.

Pooh's Gift Shop Corp.

T.G. Burley Wholesale Stores Americas Inc. (Florida)

TG Burley's (stylized as ***T.G. Burley's***, also known as *Kabushiki Kaisha Tī-Jī Bārī*; 株式会社ティージーバーリー, TYO:2792, and *TG Bā-Lǐ Bǎi-Huò Yǒu-Xiàn Gōng-Sī*; TG巴里百貨有限公司), formerly known as ***Lardo and Burley's Retail Stores*** and the ***Warner Bros. Variety of Giftware Store***, is a department store chain with over 200 stores located in southeastern and eastern Asia.

The first TG Burley's store opened in Itoigawa, Niigata Prefecture, Japan on December 19, 2008 as Lardo and Burley's Retail Stores (Hepburn: Rarudo to Bārī Kouri-ten, ラルドとバーリー小売店) and was headquartered in Asahikawa, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan on May 8, 2010.  However on November 18, 2012, when its first store in China was open, it got quickly renamed to TG Burley's to avoid causing any confusion to either the American department store chain of TJ Maxx, the international store brand of TK Maxx, and Lardo and Burley, the two men of the Moron Brothers bluegrass band from Lexington, Kentucky.

## History

On May 3, 2008, a Florida TJ Maxx store owner along with Lardo and Burley, the two men of the Moron Brothers bluegrass band from Lexington, Kentucky founded TG Burley's as a name for retail stores developing great service to people who live outside of the United States. TG Burley's founder Kazuhiro Watanabe helped them set up their first store in Niigata Prefecture in honor of a new department store chain acquired by TJX Companies, along with TJ Maxx. Before TG Burley's, the store was called Lardo and Burley's Retail Stores, a chain of department stores named after Lardo and Burley, from the Moron Brothers respectively. The store which opened in Itoigawa, Niigata Prefecture had its name changed, and on June 7, 2009, it was relatively known as the Warner Bros. Variety of Giftware Store (ワーナー・ブラザース・バラエティー・オブ・ギフトウェア・ストアー) and had a 2 year process before its parent company, Warner Bros. Retail Stores Asia, Ltd. (ワーナー・ブラザース小売店株式会社) and its main store went defunct on November 7, 2012. Eleven days later, the founder made a decision to acquire TJX Companies, along with the Board of the TJ Maxx stores to operate a now defunct Itoigawa, Niigata Prefecture store which has been revived as TG Burley's, the successor to the American department store chain TJ Maxx. With that, a banner reading "This is TG Burley's First store" has been shown during the grand opening to the new TG Burley's store (which was formerly known as Lardo and Burley's Retail Stores, and the Warner Bros. Variety of Giftware Store). However on March 16, 2015, another TG Burley's store was open at Komatsu, Ishikawa Prefecture. Starting on August 16, 2018, TG Burley's was expecting to enter the Chinese market by the start of 2019, so, on February 10, 2019, TG Burley's opened its first store in Shanghai, China. Upon arriving at the TJX Companies meeting on March 5, 2019, it has been revealed that the name of the store comes from the famous international store retailer, whose name was Thomas Gregory Burley (not to be confused with just Burley, of the Moron Brothers bluegrass band).

## Entering the Australian market

As of January 1, 2021, TG Burley's entered the Australian market with its first store located in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. On January 3, 2021, Mason Richards Hirata set up its first Australian headquarters near Newcastle, New South Wales, and took office as ***T.G. Burley's Australia Pty Ltd.*** With that, their official logo became slightly different to their corporate logo but it was only seen throughout Australian department stores.

T.G. Burley's is the first Australian department store chain to make a takeover from the TJX Companies to make room for Woolworths Group and Foodstuffs NZ Ltd., providing great services to Australians around the country. Lead director Wilbur Coleman Kimura of Coles Group listed T.G. Burley's as the "Best store in Australia". However, despite the same name, it carries no relation to the department store chain of TG Burley's from Itoigawa, Niigata Prefecture.

## Entrance to the North American market as a wholesale store

On January 4, 2021, TG Burley's entered the North American market as a wholesale store, and its first store was opened in Miami Beach, Florida. Winnifred Michiharu Harada (Executive Chairman of TG Burley's) obtained its North American headquarters in Cocoa Beach, Florida and took office as ***T.G. Burley Wholesale Stores Americas Inc.*** Its main rival, TJX Companies, controls 40% of its store company. Their logo was placed in their first stores across Miami-Dade county.

Its principal subsidiary, ***Pooh's Gift Shop Corporation*** from Winter Park, Florida, joins hands with T.G. Burley as they make up a branding name of ***Pooh-Burley's Retail Manufacturing Company, Inc.*** However, the company name (T.G. Burley Wholesale Store Americas Inc.) remains intact.