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Marmaxx Analysis
In the year 2018, Marmaxx generated net sales of $24.058 billion, while its profit amounted to $3.254 billion. Brands under Marmaxx have partnered with charitable organizations such as St. Jude's Hospital, Autism Speaks, and the Joslin Diabets Center to implement social impact initiatives. Recently, Marmaxx's brands employed well-known individuals, such as actor Zachary Levi, to help with their promotion efforts.
Indications of Acquisitions
- In 2012, TJX acquired Sierra Trading Post, later establishing an e-commerce site (SierraTradingPost.com). According to a 2012 report from Wyoming Business Report, TJX bought Sierra Trading Post for $200 million. By the year 2018, it was rebranded to Sierra, which is a part of its Marmaxx segment.
- Subsequently, TJX bought Sierra.com in 2018, which was then a premium generic domain, from Activision Publishing Inc. It also acquired Marshalls.com from a UK-based company named Marshalls PLC. Both of these sites help to make up the company's, as well as Marmaxx's, e-commerce segment.
Financial Health
- For the fiscal year 2018, which ended on February 2, 2019, net sales from Marmaxx amounted to $24.058 billion ($22.249 billion in the previous fiscal year), with a comparable sales growth of about 7% over the previous year thanks to an increase in customer traffic. Meanwhile, it generated a profit of $3.254 billion in 2018 ($2.949 billion in the previous fiscal year).
- Also, for Marmaxx, e-commerce (Sierra.com, TJMaxx.com, Marshalls.com) accounted for only 3% of its net sales, but they posted double-digit increases in sales.
- Identifiable assets rose to $6.223 billion for the fiscal year 2018 ($5.676 billion in the previous fiscal year)
- Marmaxx currently operates around 2,343 stores in the United States, as of 2019. According to TJX's 2018 annual report, there are 1,252 T.J. Maxx, 1,091 Marshalls, and 35 Sierra stores in the country and 88 Marshalls locations in Canada. It anticipates to grow the number of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls stores to 2,403 in 2020, while expanding its Sierra locations by 10. This move would improve its selling square footage by about 2%.
- The company claims that it has the capacity to expand Marmaxx to a combined 3,000 Marshalls and T.J. Maxx stores globally in the near future as it continues to establish itself in existing markets, as well as urban and exurban regions.
- A breakdown of the number of its T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, and Sierra stores in the United States is presented on page 18 of TJX's 2018 annual report.
Marketing and Media Strategies
- Marmaxx companies use TV, radio, print, and digital advertisements, to promote their offerings to the public. Many of TJ Maxx's print advertisements come with the taglines, "must have brands, must-buy prices," "Be well. Save now.," "maxx you, maxx life." All the brands that operate under Marmaxx (T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, Sierra, etc.) give consumers the opportunity to provide them with their email to receive offers, deals, etc., which is a form of email marketing.
- T.J. Maxx (e.g., Instagram, Twitter, YouTube) and Marshalls (e.g., Instagram, Twitter, YouTube) both actively use social media to market their products, deals, sales, etc. to potential and existing customers. They also employ celebrities to star in some of their advertisements.
- For example, actor Zachary Levi partnered with the Marmaxx companies for the "Spend Less Gift Better" campaign for the 2019 holiday season, which included a series of video and TV advertisements. The TV spots were about 30 seconds in length. Marshalls and T.J. Maxx also utilized their various social media accounts, including YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter, to promote the campaign featuring the actor.
- In March 2019, T.J. Maxx created a multi-city interactive game, as part of a new marketing campaign, constructed on the concept of "Maxximizing," with the message being "that shoppers don't need to sacrifice quality or price to find items that are right for them." It involved various product installations in the city of New York, in which the company collaborated with five different personalities/celebrities/influencers, including Hannah Simone, Rachel Choy, Alli Webb, Jeremiah Brent, and Myleik Teele, who all served as "tastemakers."
- For this game, consumers either observed the installations through T.J. Maxx's Instagram via the hashtag #Maxximizing or in person, where they were tasked with guessing the products' overall cost in exchange for a T.J. Maxx gift card or the product on display.
- Sierra uses several digital, print, and video advertisements to market its outdoor and casual products. Although it has a Twitter account, it rarely utilizes it, as it only tweeted twice in 2019 and once in 2018.
Social Impact Initiatives
- T.J. Maxx has partnered with charitable organizations such as Save The Children, Autism Speaks, and the Joslin Diabets Center, for which it has donated $18 million, $6 million, and $1.5 million, respectively. The company sponsors over 980 kids in need through Save The Children, while hosting fundraising programs each year for Autism Speaks to promote public awareness, fund biomedical research globally, and assisting those with Autism.
- Marshalls has partnered with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), St. Jude's Research Hospital, and the Alzheimer's Association, for which it has donated $25 million, $6 million, and $7.5 million, respectively. For the JDRF, the company holds in-store fundraisers each year to help the foundation to locate a cure for diabetes, and it asks its customers to donate at least $1 each November to St. Jude to assist the entity's "research for both cures and treatments to help children with cancer and other deadly diseases."
- Marshalls also hosts a yearly in-store fundraiser and takes part in the Walk to End Alzheimer's National Team Program to help the Alzheimer's Association in its quest to eradicate the illness via research, diminishing dementia risk, and offering enhanced care.
- Furthermore, Marshalls sponsors numerous Pride festivals in the United States and Canada every year, with hundreds of Associates participating in community Pride festivals.