treasure-hunt-shopping
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Judy Duzich
Judy Duzich is the merchandising chief at Century 21 Stores, the lower-Manhattan off-price retailer famous for stocking designer labels at 40 to 65 percent off. She joined Century 21 as an assistant buyer in 1990, spent roughly three decades climbing to vice president and divisional merchandise manager, left after the chain shut down in 2020, and returned in 2022 to help rebuild it. When Century 21 reopened at 22 Cortlandt Street in May 2023 - 100,000 square feet across four floors, down from 250,000 across seven - Duzich was the one deciding what actually went on the racks. Her stated brief was to make the assortment more curated, more elevated and more relevant, organized by brand and by style instead of piled into bins, with fresh deliveries arriving constantly so that the store's famous treasure-hunt logic still worked. A Fashion Institute of Technology graduate in marketing and fashion merchandising, she is one of the few people who has bought for Century 21 in three separate decades.
Burlington Stores, Inc.
Burlington Stores, Inc. is one of the largest off-price retailers in the United States, selling brand-name apparel, footwear, accessories, baby gear, and home goods at prices well below full-price department stores. Founded in 1972 as Burlington Coat Factory, the company built its business on opportunistically buying excess and closeout merchandise from thousands of vendors and passing the savings to shoppers through a rotating, treasure-hunt assortment. Headquartered in Burlington, New Jersey and trading on the NYSE under the ticker BURL, it operates more than 1,200 stores and is pursuing an aggressive small-format expansion toward a long-term target of 2,000 doors.
Century 21 Stores
Century 21 Stores is a New York City off-price fashion retailer, founded in 1961, known for selling designer and luxury apparel, footwear, handbags and accessories at deep discounts. After filing for bankruptcy and closing all 13 locations in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Gindi family reacquired the brand and reopened its Financial District flagship at 22 Cortlandt Street in May 2023. Rebranded 'Century 21 NYC,' the retailer pairs its trademark 'treasure hunt' in-store experience with a growing e-commerce presence, live shopping and a TikTok Shop.
The TJX Companies, Inc.
The TJX Companies, Inc. is the world's largest off-price retailer of apparel and home fashions, operating more than 5,200 stores across nine countries under brands including T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, HomeSense, Sierra, TK Maxx, and Winners. Headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts, TJX buys excess inventory, closeouts, and canceled orders from thousands of vendors and sells brand-name and designer merchandise at prices typically 20% to 60% below full-price retailers, creating a rotating 'treasure hunt' assortment. The Fortune 100 company surpassed $60 billion in annual sales in fiscal 2026.
Grocery Outlet
Grocery Outlet is an American extreme-value retailer that sells name-brand and private-label groceries at prices generally 40% to 70% below conventional supermarkets. Founded in 1946 in San Francisco, it built a flexible 'opportunistic buying' model that scoops up overstock, closeout, and out-of-spec products from suppliers and resells them through a network of locally run, independently operated stores. The treasure-hunt assortment changes constantly, and each store is run by entrepreneurial Independent Operators who split profits with the company and tailor shelves to their neighborhood.
Jason Potter
Jason Potter is the President and CEO of Grocery Outlet, the Emeryville-based bargain grocery chain known for its independent owner-operator model and treasure-hunt aisles. He took the top job on February 3, 2025, after nearly five years steering The Fresh Market and 26 years climbing through Sobeys, Canada's national grocery giant. He started bagging groceries at 13 in a small Alberta town and has been in the trade ever since.