TK Maxx customer Steve Pearn was stunned when he discovered a sharp sword hidden in the shaft of a decorative cane recently purchased by his wife in the discount bin at TK Maxx in Plymouth.
Pearn told the News of the World: "We got the fright of our lives when the blade appeared out of the stick. It was huge and very sharp."
Last week the retail outlet came under fire for selling a £59 jacket with a 2.5in blade fastened to the inner lining.
A statement on the TK Maxx website said: "TK Maxx takes the safety of its customer and associates very seriously. It is of the utmost importance to us. We have been surprised by events this week and want to reassure the public that these incidents were by no means intentional and that we greatly regret that this has occurred.
"We buy a huge range of products from thousands of international and reputable brand owners. But while we have processes in place and staff training programmes to prevent dangerous articles being sold in our stores, clearly our current system has not been robust enough.
"As a responsible company of our size, we are re-examining our processes and will strengthen them in order to prevent this from happening again."
Last year a TK Maxx shop assistant was stabbed to death 11 times at a store in Leicestershire.