Home Bargains

British discount store chain

Home Bargains is a British variety store chain founded in 1976 by Tom Morris in Liverpool, England, as Home and Bargain. It is the trading name of TJ Morris Ltd.

The retailer was founded by owner Tom Morris in 1976 as a single store called Home and Bargain in Old Swan, Liverpool when he was aged 21. The name was changed to Home Bargains in 1995, but is still colloquially referred to by its original name in the Merseyside area. Customer numbers were estimated to be in excess of three million in February 2013, with items sold typically consisting of 70% regular lines and the rest as one off product lines. A £70m distribution centre began construction in October 2013 in Wiltshire, England, as a duplicate of their facility that they had opened at its Liverpool headquarters some years prior, in order that their expansion plans could be maintained.

The strap line of the retailer is "Top Brands, Bottom Prices", with operations director Joe Morris explaining their business model of acquiring stock at the same cost price as the larger supermarkets, but selling them to the public at a cheaper price. In August 2011, Home Bargains opened a website to enable customers to shop with them online.

Home Bargains stores have red and blue branding. Most are centrally located though several are in out of town retail parks. Stores range from small to medium outlets, with the retail park outlets being slightly larger. Store sizes in 2013 were typically between and These stores include Cardiff and Port Talbot in Wales. In Fife, Scotland, two former Woolworths stores have been opened in shopping centres in Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy.

The retailer had aspirations to expand in countries outside of England and Wales in 2007, though owner Tom Morris was keen to ensure such expansion was controlled to avoid the risk of over expansion. The retailer announced in October 2008 that preparations are underway to expand into Scotland for the first time, opening their first store in Rutherglen in December 2008. By March 2009, the company aimed to have six stores within the area of Glasgow, employing more than two hundred people. In February 2010, the company's £25 million Northern Ireland expansion plan was announced, with plans to have opened up to twenty five stores by 2015, to add to their then portfolio of 190 stores.

From April 2013 until January 2016, Home Bargains were kit sponsors of League 2 side Tranmere Rovers in a "six figure" deal, replacing long term sponsors Wirral Council. The sponsorship ended when the club signed a three year sponsorship deal with B&M Waste Services. Since October 2019, they have been the kit sponsors of League One side Bolton Wanderers. In 2021, Home Bargains signed a three year principal shirt partner deal with Super League club St Helens Rugby League Football Club for the 2022–2024 seasons.

The retailer was fined over £20,000 in February 2017, after being caught selling phone chargers that risked exploding. The chargers had been imported from China yet had not undergone sufficient safety checks by the retailer, despite Trading Standards having carried out five failed safety checks on the product. Despite being able to produce a Chinese test certificate indicating that a sample product was safety compliant, Home Bargains subsequently admitted to three offences of electrical safety through the sale of unsafe chargers during 2015.