Easy. You don't need ten different types of butter, yogurt, tea, etc. You can grab the single TJ branded item and have a reliable indicator it's reasonably healthy, tasty, and a good value with minimal margin.
It flips the script - make the store brands the central offering, with big names as a sideline.
Another thing I've seen is that a product might appear only once in a while, but is never discontinued - it's in rotation with other products. I've seen this a lot with frozen goods. That gives them a way to offer variety without having zillions of SKUs in stock at any given time.
Another thing I've seen is that a product might appear only once in a while, but is never discontinued - it's in rotation with other products. I've seen this a lot with frozen goods. That gives them a way to offer variety without having zillions of SKUs in stock at any given time.