Subsidiary | |
Industry | Retail |
Genre | Department store |
Founded | 1976 Framingham, Massachusetts, US |
Founder | Bernard Cammarata |
Headquarters | Framingham, Massachusetts, US |
Number of locations
|
1,191 (Apr 2017) |
Key people
|
Ernie Hermann (CEO) |
Products | Clothing, footwear, bedding and domestics, furniture and giftware |
Parent |
TJX Companies (1987–present) |
Website | tjmaxx |
TJ Maxx (often stylised as T•j•maxx) is an American department store chain, selling at prices generally lower than other major similar stores. It has more than 1,000 stores, making it one of the largest clothing retailers in the United States.
The company is part of the TJX Companies, which also owns HomeGoods/HomeSense, and "off-price" retail chains Sierra Trading Post in the United States, Marshalls in the US and Canada, and Winners in Canada. Under the name TK Maxx, its parent company TJX operates stores throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Australia Poland, Austria and The Netherlands. It sells men's, women's and children's apparel and shoes, toys, bath and beauty, accessories, and home products ranging from furniture to kitchen utensils.
TJ Maxx and Marshalls operate as sister stores, and share a similar footprint throughout the country. While their prices are nearly identical and they have similar store layouts, TJ Maxx has a more upscale appearance than Marshalls and typically sells a larger range of fine jewelry and accessories. Some higher-volume stores have a high-end designer department called The Runway.
The CEO of TJX companies is Ernie Herrman.
In 1976 TJ Maxx was founded in Framingham, Massachusetts by Bernard Cammarata, as a nameplate of the Zayre chain of discount department stores. When Zayre sold their own nameplate to Ames, a rival discount department store, Zayre was renamed as "TJX Companies, Incorporated".
In March 2009 its e-commerce site was launched, at first only selling handbags, the range later expanded to include clothing, shoes, jewelry, other accessories, and some home goods.
Business Insider described TJ Maxx as "Macy's worst nightmare" in an oft-quoted 2016 article by Mallory Schlossberg. In a later article Schlossberg also reported on how TJ Maxx's soaring sales "should be concerning for ailing department stores that are fighting to get people to pay full price." As off-price retailers are becoming an increasing threat to traditional department stores, signaling a change in consumer buying habits, TJ Maxx's revenue grew to surpass that of Macy's. According to The Economist, "the overheads at TJX and Ross are, as a percentage of sales, about half those of Macy's or Nordstrom" and Fortune stated that "the quicker inventory turn and the sense that an item on a rack might not be there the following week at a TJ Maxx or a Marshalls has led to a boom in this area of retail and made such stores a rarity in the business: shoppers are coming to stores."