Burlington Stores had a great 2025. The CEO credits its tariff response.

Burlington Stores have been riding high, with a 21% increase in net income and a 9% jump in sales last year.

The CEO of the South Jersey-based discount retailer says the company’s recent success can be traced back to the tariffs imposed last year. Or, rather, Burlington’s response to them.

“Over the last few years, we have worked hard to build our operating margin,” CEO Michael O’Sullivan said earlier this month on the company’s earnings call. “In 2025, we decided we were not going to let tariffs set us back.”

Instead, the 54-year-old retailer, formerly known as Burlington Coat Factory, reduced inventory, raised prices on certain items, and “aggressively” cut expenses, O’Sullivan said.

These changes have the company primed for further growth this year. Burlington executives said they expect customers to spend more this spring after they receive tax refunds that are projected to be higher than in past years.

“I tend not to use the word bullish very often but I am going to use it now: We feel very bullish about our sales outlook in 2026,” O’Sullivan said. “Barring some black swan event, we think that we have an opportunity to really drive sales.”

And as for the possibility of more or higher tariffs, “we don’t know what will happen this year,” O’Sullivan added. “But we believe that the industry and our supply base have now adjusted to them” — and could make other adjustments if needed.

The positive earnings report is just the latest good news for Burlington, which has been expanding its store count and experimenting with smaller-format locations, including at a soon-to-open shop in South Philly.

In 2023, Burlington opened its 1,000th store and took over leases of bankrupt Bed Bath & Beyond. The following year, Burlington opened 100 stores and reported $10.6 billion in net sales.

» READ MORE: Is off-price Burlington the retail we need as the economy wavers?

In 2025, the company increased that number to $11.5 billion, according to its recent earnings report. They opened 104 net new stores last year, executives said, and they hope to add 110 more by the end of this year.

The company that got its start on Route 130 in Burlington Township had more than 1,200 locations as of January. The retailer, which ditched “Coat Factory” over the past decade, sells off-price clothing, shoes, accessories, and home goods in 46 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico.

Its original store closed in 2008, but the chain still operates more than two dozen Philly-area locations from the western suburbs to Cape May County, with six locations in the city.

“It’s a dynamic time right now, and off-price is a good place to be in retail because consumers want the best value,” Chris Miller, group senior vice president of marketing and strategy, said in an interview in April.

Amid continued inflation and economic uncertainty, many discount retailers have been thriving, with some getting a boost from more affluent shoppers, CBS News reported in September, citing market research.

O’Sullivan said Burlington has noticed this trend, with customers “responding to the great values we are offering at these higher-price points.”

Overall, U.S. consumers have been visiting off-price retailers more often than traditional department stores, according to a February report from Placer.ai, which uses cell phone data to analyze foot traffic. That’s a reversal from 2019, when department stores recorded more visits, according to the analysis.

The discount retailers Ross Dress for Less and TJ Maxx recently released strong earnings reports that included net sales increases for 2025. Meanwhile, the department store Kohl’s reported a dip in sales, with executives saying they plan to refocus on the value they can provide lower- and middle-income customers.