Burlington Stores, Inc. reported $11.57 billion in total revenue and $610.2 million in net income for fiscal 2025, the year ended January 31, 2026, and ran 1,287 stores by August 1, 2026. Known as Burlington Coat Factory until 2013, it is the third-largest U.S. off-price retailer after TJX Companies and Ross Stores, and one of the few large apparel chains with no online store.
How Does Burlington Make Money?
Almost all of Burlington's revenue comes from merchandise sold in its stores: net sales were $11.55 billion of the $11.57 billion total in fiscal 2025, with about $17 million of other revenue from sources such as rental income and service fees. Its merchants buy branded apparel, shoes, home goods, beauty and baby products when manufacturers or other retailers have excess stock, cancelled orders or closeouts. That lets Burlington price items below department stores; it advertises savings of up to 60 percent off other retailers' prices. Some purchases are held as packaway inventory and sent to stores later.
Why Burlington Has No Website
On March 5, 2020, Burlington said it would shut its e-commerce business. The online operation was small and, with low average prices, shipping and returns made it unprofitable. Days later pandemic lockdowns closed its stores, and fiscal 2020 revenue fell to $5.76 billion with a $216.5 million net loss. The company has stayed store-only, and revenue has more than doubled from the pandemic low.
Who Founded Burlington?
Monroe Milstein, from a family wholesale coat business in New York, opened the first Burlington Coat Factory in a former factory building in Burlington, New Jersey, in 1972. The company went public in 1983, bought the Cohoes Specialty Stores chain in 1989 and was taken private by Bain Capital for about $2.06 billion in 2006. Former Kohl's executive Tom Kingsbury became CEO in December 2008 and led an October 2013 IPO at $17 a share.
Burlington 2.0 Under Michael O'Sullivan
Michael O'Sullivan, who spent 16 years at Ross Stores, became CEO in September 2019. His Burlington 2.0 plan cut store inventories, kept more buying dollars open until closer to the season and shifted new stores to a prototype of about 25,000 square feet. Operating margin rose from 4.6 percent in fiscal 2022 to 7.5 percent in fiscal 2025, and net income grew from $230.1 million to $610.2 million over the same period.
How Burlington Finds New Stores
Burlington grows by backfilling sites left by bankrupt retailers. It won 44 Bed Bath & Beyond leases for $12 million at the June 2023 auction and reported 62 in total, then agreed in 2025 to take over 45 Joann leases. It added 149 net new stores in the 12 months to August 1, 2026, plans about 115 net openings in fiscal 2026 and expects at least 1,500 stores by the end of 2028.
Latest Results and Outlook
In the second quarter of fiscal 2026, total sales rose 11 percent to $2.998 billion and net income was $184 million. Burlington received $55 million in tariff refunds and said it would reinvest them in lower prices. It raised full-year adjusted EPS guidance to $11.77 to $11.97, but its third-quarter sales outlook and comments about gas prices squeezing core customers pushed the shares down. In September 2026 it announced a $370 million move of its headquarters to Schuylkill Yards in Philadelphia, starting no earlier than late 2028.
What Are Burlington's Biggest Risks?
The main risks are the budgets of its lower- and middle-income shoppers, tariffs on imported merchandise, and competition for closeout supply from the larger TJX and Ross Stores. Fast store growth also needs capital: spending of about $1.06 billion in fiscal 2025 left free cash flow at roughly $172 million.
