I Swear By the “C” Rule for Shopping at T.J. Maxx and Marshalls

You might think Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the shopping days bookended in between are not T.J.Maxx or Marshalls’ time to shine. And in some ways, you’re not wrong. These stores are always offering merchandise at discounted prices — that’s their entire business model: making really large buys from vendors and passing on those mass savings to customers. So you can win at shopping at these retailers any time of year.

But if, like me, you’re after the best gifts at the lowest possible prices this weekend to finish off your holiday gift list, I have a new strategy for you that I’m calling the “C” rule for shopping T.J. Maxx and Marshalls. Here’s why you won’t want to forget these sites in the Black Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM) rush — and how to get to the best stuff as quickly as possible.

The search bar on T.J. Maxx’s and Marshalls’ websites won’t let you look up top designers and companies by name, but it will allow you to search by an item’s country of origin. (Hence: the “C” Rule!) And guess what? Some of the highest quality pieces of home decor (and designer brand goods) are made in places like Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, England, and so on.

The product descriptions on T.J. Maxx and Marshalls definitely include this information. So if you search for items “Made in Italy,” for example, and then filter for “home,” you might just find Gucci wallpaper. “Made in France” will pull up Le Creuset and Baccarat, while “Made in Portugal” can help you home in on the quality towels and textiles that country is known for. It’s a simple way to outsmart the sites’ understandably limited search function.

One quick note: Both of these retailers also classify certain items’ brand names as their country of origin. So don’t fall into this trap when searching by clicking the populated “MADE IN ITALY” brand that’ll pop up in the dropdown, for example, as you search. Go through with your search by typing out the entire phrase and then clicking the magnifying glass icon in the search bar. This will yield far more designer results and include all of those pieces classified by brand under their country of origin.

You can give the “C” rule a try on your own, or just skip straight through to some gems I unearthed using it. These items won’t last long, and if you plan on making any of these things gifts, order now! You can thank me later.