Because You're Ugly: TJ Maxx

Nordstrom Rack and Loehmann's may have some new competition coming to town. As reported by today's Register, the Mission Viejo TJ Maxx location will begin carrying higher end designer labels at the end of the month.

The designer label department, called the Runway, first began in 2006, with a current total of 43 locations with Runway departments. These select chain stores have just began to grace Southern California's presence, and now boast the likes of Prada, Valentino and D&G in their collections.

While I've never had much luck at discount designer stores, I've actually once visited an East Coast TJ Maxx location with a Runway department—and I wasn't all that impressed. Prices just weren't, er, bargainous enough for me, and the selection (which wasn't nearly as bountiful as, say, Loehmann's or Saks Off 5th) wasn't nearly good enough to justify an extravagant purchase.

Judge for yourself—the Runway department debuts January 31st at the Mission Viejo TJ Maxx, 27690 Santa Margarita Pkwy., Mission Viejo, (949) 859-8619.