The TJX Companies Inc.

The TJX Companies Inc. is the owner of many retail stores such as: Marshalls, HomeGoods, Winners, Home sense, T.J. Maxx and T.K. Maxx. These stores operate in the United States of America, Canada and Europe.  The TJX Companies Inc. is currently ranked No. 125 in the Fortune 500 Listings with over $23 billion in revenues in 2011.

TJX Companies Inc. has a goal to bring off-price quality brand name merchandise to the consumer at 20%-60% less than the regular prices on an everyday basis. Their main market customer is middle to upper middle income shopper who is a specialty shopper, value conscious and fashion sensible. Generally, their markets enjoy “the treasure-hunt” shopping experience. Stores under TJX will carry a wide range of products from family apparel, giftware, home decor, accessories, footwear and jewellery.

The company currently employs more than 168,000 Associates in the U.S., Canada and Europe. The Executive Officers at the TJX are: Bernard Cammarata – Chairman of the Board, Carol Meyrowitz – Chief Executive Officer and Director, Ernie Herrman – President,  and the Senior Vice President of Global Communications is Sherry Lang who provides press releases on the TJX Website.

TJX has “no walls” between departments in their stores and are easily able to move merchandise from one store to the other. By doing this they are able to take advantage of market opportunities. They run a lean inventory as to not overstock and end up with stale merchandise. This allows for a higher turnover of inventory and higher buying power.

They are loyal to their top 25 vendors which make up for ¼ of their inventory. They have 12 buying offices in 9 countries and source products from over 60 countries worldwide [1]

Here's an insiders look on the people behind the merchandise at TJX Companies:

As far as their competition goes, it would appear that if you’re in competition with TJX they might just buy you. (See 1995 in the milestones listed below)

The TJX Companies excels in their industry because they have stuck to their foundation and goal: To provide household goods and clothing affordably and at a discount. This isn’t to say that their stores are the only places where you can find a bargain. The Bay is always running sales on their labels of clothing, shoes, accessories and house hold items. However the discounts don’t apply to all their merchandise so you do have to watch for a sale. The TJX Companies stores offer a discount on all goods.

One of the disadvantages is also one of its advantages: The hunt for the perfect piece. Whether you’re looking for clothing, shoes or makeup it’s all a gamble if they will have it in stock. I recently went on a hunt to 6 Winners stores in Calgary to find the over the knee leather boots I saw in the first one which weren’t my size. Three days and 6 stores later I did find them (and they’re fantastic).

The TJX Companies Inc. operates under Monopolistic Competition. Their stages of production are simple since they are a retail outlet they don’t physically produce their items but instead have a team to research vendors and establish supplier relationships. The TJX Companies Inc. fixed costs include: rent, buildings, insurance, and machinery to move materials. The variable costs include: wages, utilities, materials purchased, sales tags, plastic bags etc. Variable costs can increase with increased production and vice versa.

The budget for 2012 is between $875 million and $900 million. Funds from this budget will go to support growth, supply chain, infrastructure, new stores and store remodelling and an e-commerce initiative. The TJX Companies Inc. is also planning to buyback 1.2 to 1.3 billion dollars’ worth of its own shares. Since 1997 the TJX has bought $10 billion dollars of their shares back.

Each year the TJX publishes an annual report which is available online to anyone. For 2011 net sales reached 23.2 Billion up 6% from 2010[2]. Net sales in the fiscal year of 2012 (unadjusted) were $23.191 Million (shown above). After costs of sales including buying and occupancy costs there was a gross profit if 27.3%. The gross profit in 2011 was 26.9%. 2011 marked the 16^th year in a row that the TJX Companies Inc. has shown growth.

The TJX Companies Inc. history and milestones.

In 1956, the Feldbergs opened the first Zayre store in Massachusetts. Zayre means “Very good” in Yiddish and is by definition: a neighbourhood, convenience, self-service, general merchandise discount department store which emphasises on convenience, value and fashion.

In 1976, Ben Cammarata was offered the opportunity to build an off-price chain. T.J.Maxx was born and eventually grew into The TJX Companies Inc. They are the currently the leading off-price retailer in fashion apparel and home furnishings in the United States and Worldwide.[3]

In 1990 the TJX bought Winners Apparel of Canada. Winners, who were a Toronto-based chain of five stores, grew into Canada’s largest off-price retailer of apparel, home furnishing and accessories.

1992 was the year that TJC launched HomeGoods in the U.S. This store would offer home furnishings, accessories, giftware, home basics, accent furniture, rugs and other seasonal items for the home.

By the year 1994 TJX launched T.K. Maxx to the U.K. and Ireland. T.K. Maxx is Europe’s largest off-price retailer. This department store offers great value on family apparel, footwear, jewellery, lingerie, home fashions and accessories.

The competition was no match for the TJX Company in 1995 when it purchased the U.S.’s second largest off-price retailer – Marshalls. This newly acquired asset came with 496 stores and offered the same type of selection of goods such as footwear, menswear, home fashions and accessories. With this new addition, T.J. Maxx and Marshalls were in operation in over 1,000 stores nationwide.

1996 was the year that TJX decide to sell Chadwick’s of Boston in order to focus on growing T.J. Maxx and Marshalls. Chadwick’s of Boston was opened in 1983 and was a women’s off-price sportswear mail order catalogue.

In 1998 the TJX launched a new store aimed at customers with moderate income. This store A.J. Wright was still an off-price concept similar to its sister stores and carried a variety of home fashions including footwear, giftware, toys, games, and special opportunistic purchases. A.J. Wright would later be dissolved into T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods stores. 72 stores were closed in early 2011.

2011 was the benchmark for Marshalls moving to Canada and in 2012 T.J. Maxx opened its 1,000^th store. 2012 also marks HomeGoods 20^th anniversary.

In closing, The TJX Companies are a force to be reckoned with. They saw an opportunity to bring luxury goods to the consumer at a lower cost and changed the retail market.