TJX Companies Inc.

Summary

American multinational off-price department store corporation TJX Companies, Inc., was ranked 75 in the 2022 Fortune 500 company listings. At the end of fiscal 2022, the company had nearly 4,700 stores worldwide and five e-commerce sites. It operates T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, HomeGoods, Sierra and Homesense, as well as tjmaxx.com, marshalls.com, homegoods.com, and sierra.com, in the U.S.  There are over 4,557 discount stores in the TJX portfolio located in nine countries.

History

The history of TJX Companies Inc. date back to 1977. In 1976, Bernard Cammarata, General Merchandising Manager of Marshalls at the time, was recruited by discount retailer, Zayre Corp. to develop and spearhead the launch of a new off-price chain selling family apparel and home fashions. Under his leadership, T.J. Maxx was born, with its first stores opening in 1977. in Auburn, Massachusetts. In 1987, Zayre established TJX Companies as a subsidiary. The following year, Zayre stores experienced operating losses of an estimated $69 million on sales of app. $1.4 billion, and appeared ripe for takeover. Throughout all this, however, TJX Companies continued to yield profits. In October 1988, Zayre Corp. decided to focus its resources on TJX. It sold the chain of nearly 400 Zayre stores to Ames Department Stores Inc. for an estimated $431.4 million in cash and Ames cumulative senior convertible preferred stock valued at $140 million.

In June 1989, Zayre Corp. acquired the outstanding minority interest in TJX and merged with the subsidiary, changing its name from Zayre Corp. to The TJX Companies, Inc. and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. TJX continued to grow steadily over the years, opening stores in new markets, countries, and continents, launching new chains, and acquiring other retailers, to bring its popular off-price model to a wider network of customers who love its eclectic mix of quality, fashionable, branded apparel and home fashion, at amazing value. In 1990, TJX expanded into an additional store brand division and also entered the Canadian market by acquiring the Winners chain. Two years later, it launched its third brand, HomeGoods, in the United States. TJX’s expansion beyond North America came in 1994, when T.K. Maxx was founded in the United Kingdom and then expanded into Ireland. The following year, TJX nearly doubled in size when it acquired Marshalls. T.J. Maxx and Marshalls later became consolidated as two brands under a single division, The Marmaxx Group. In 1995, TJX sold Hit or Miss, a discount store, through an employee leveraged buyout.

TJX launched a sixth brand, A.J. Wright, in 1998 in the eastern U.S. The brand went national in 2004 when it opened its first stores in California on the west coast. The company’s seventh brand division, HomeSense, formed in 2001, was a Canadian brand modeled after the existing US brand, HomeGoods.  In 2002, TJX revenue reached almost $12 billion. In mid-2003, TJX acquired an eighth brand division, Bob’s Stores, in New England. In Canada, TJX began to configure some Winners and HomeSense stores side by side as superstores. The superstores feature open passageways between them, with dual branding. TJX’s revenue in 2003 reached over an estimated $13 billion, and the company began testing the side-by-side superstore model in the United States in 2004, combining Marmaxx with HomeGoods. That year was also marked by the death of retired Zayre founder Stanley Feldberg.

In April 2008, TJX launched the HomeSense brand in the UK, with six stores opening throughout May. Later that year, in August, TJX sold Bob’s Stores to Versa Capital Management and Crystal Capital. In December 2010, TJX announced that the A.J. Wright stores would be closed, cutting about 4,400 jobs, and that more than half of them would reopen under other company brands. In December 2012, TJX acquired Sierra Trading Post, an off-price internet retailer of outdoor gear and apparel. Since its acquisition, the retail chain has opened over 70 brick-and-mortar stores in the United States. The chain rebranded to Sierra in 2019. In July 2015, TJX acquired the Trade Secret and Home Secret off-price retail businesses from Australian company Gazal Corporation Limited. In October, Ernie Herrman was named CEO of the company, replacing Carol Meyrowitz.

In November 2019, TJX purchased a 25 per cent stake in Russian retailer Familia. TJX Companies, Inc. business model has been built to have tremendous flexibility and adapt with the times. Over more than four decades as a company, it has delivered steady sales and earnings growth through retail and economic environments across different geographies. Over the course of the company history, its strong financial returns and cash generation has allowed the company to simultaneously invest in the growth of the business and return cash to shareholders. While its business was negatively impacted by the COVID-19 global pandemic, including temporary store closures and government-mandated shopping restrictions, it maintained an unwavering focus on the execution of the off-price business model. Strong sales and net income performance in fiscal 2022 has the textile industry believing that TJX Companies Inc. is transforming into an increasingly profitable $60 billion-plus company.

At TJX, the team’s commitment to value is their mission, convinced that their off-price model and combination of brand, fashion, price, and quality will continue to be their winning retail formula. The stores have no walls between departments, which enables it to expand and contract merchandise categories in sync with market trends and customer preferences. The inventories turn rapidly, which gives flexibility to adjust their merchandise more frequently than traditional retailers. In fiscal 2022, TJX sourced merchandise globally from approximately 21,000 vendors worldwide, focused on seeking the right categories and brands, astride testing new ideas. The flexible business model, decades of off-price experience, and global sourcing and buying power have been major advantages throughout the company history.

Vision

“We believe significant opportunity remains to deliver value to more consumers and gain market share across the globe over the long term. At TJX, we are convinced that our off-price model and combination of brand, fashion, price, and quality will continue to be our winning retail formula going forward.”

Mission Statement

To deliver great value to our customers every day by offering a rapidly changing assortment of quality, fashionable, branded and designer merchandise at prices generally 20 per cent to 60 per cent below retailers’ regular prices on comparable merchandise.

Key Team

Carol Meyrowitz, Executive Chairman; Ernie Herrman, Chief Executive Officer and President; Ken Canestrari, Senior Executive Vice President and Group President; Louis Greenness, Senior Executive Vice President and Group President; Douglas Mizzi, Senior Executive Vice President and Group President

Products and Services

Off-price retailer of apparel and home fashions

References

• TJX Chairman, Founder Bernard Cammarata to Retire
• TJX Sells Bob’s Stores Chain To Versa Capital, Crystal Capital, Terms Undisclosed
• Carol Meyrowitz, CEO, TJX
• Meet Ernie Herrman, the new CEO of T.J. Maxx-parent TJX Cos.
• Fortune 500 Companies 2021: Who Made the List
• TJX Has Phenomenal Suppliers To Gain Share Of Market – Reports Year -End Results
• TJX buys $225M stake in Russian discount retailer
• The TJX Companies, Inc. Acquires Off-Price Internet Retailer Sierra Trading Post
• TJX Will Buy Marshalls Chain From Melville
• The history of TJX Companies Inc.