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.

Financial Health

• HomeGoods third quarter result show growth for FY2020. The companies 2020 Third Quarter results are $1,582 million, up from $1,464 million for the same period of 2019.
• In 2018, HomeGoods revenue was $5,116 million, in 2019, the company saw an increase to $5,787 million. The Comparable Store Sales were 4% for both years.
• In 2017, HomeGoods saw a 17% revenue growth from 2016.
• At the end of 2019, the company saw a 1% growth of comparable-store sales.
• As of 2019, HomeGoods revenue included Homesense. The retailer plans to open a further eight to ten stores in 2020.
• The lower comparable-store sales have been partly blamed on Homesense not performing as well as it had been expected. An earning calls suggested that freight costs have impacted Homesense, more than HomeGoods.

Growth

• In 2017, HomeGoods opened its first US store and expanded opening two stores in Ireland.
• In 2019, TJX announced plans to open 65 HomeGoods and 15 Homesense stores in the U.S.
• The company currently operates 765 HomeGoods and Homesense stores in the United states, with a long term plan to reach 1,000 HomeGoods and 400 Homesense stores.

Acquisitions

• HomeGoods has not made any acquisitions within the last five years.

Marketing and Media Strategies

• HomeGoods makes use of social media, utilizing Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest to drive interest.
• As a company that does not have an ecommerce presences, they continue to use multichannel marketing strategies.
• The company uses its inventory strategy to manage its marketing and media. The element of surprise and one of a kind bargain options help to drive the stores sales.
• HomeGoods marketing strategy includes references to "passion for unique and beautiful finds" and "new shipments every week, so there's always something new to discover."
• The companies 2019 holiday campaign featured the hashtag, #SpendLessGiftBetter. 

Social Impact

• HomeGoods uses its social media to support social media initiatives. The two following campaigns were conducted in 2018 and 2019.
• HomeGoods supported St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, by donating 50% of profits from specific products to the hospital.
• In November 2018 and 2019, the retailer supported Feeding America Food Bank.

Financial Health

• TJX Canada had net sales of $3.64 billion in 2017 which increased by 6% to $3.87 billion in 2018.
• The company profit grew from $530.11 million in FY2018 to $551.62 million in FY2019.
• Segment profit margin decreased from 14.6% in FY2018 to 14.3% in FY2019, while the increase in comparable sales was 4% as of February 2, 2019.
• The company reported sales of $1.08 billion in the third quarter of 2019, up from $1.04 billion for the same period in 2018.
• In Q3 2019, TJX Canada had a 2% growth in comparable-store sales.

Growth

• The number of TJX stores in Canada grew from 454 in 2018 to 484 as of February 2, 2019.
• The company operates 512 stores as of November 2019 and has a long-term plan to reach 600 stores.

Acquisitions

• TJX Canada has not made any acquisitions in recent years.

Marketing and Media Strategies

• Winners, HomeSense and Marshalls use social media including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to drive interest. The links lead shoppers to the store locator pages on the websites, where they can find the closest store.
• Marshalls aims to provide great value for customers at prices that are usually 20%-60% lower than other retailers.
• Winners doesn't offer sales, promotions or coupons, but provides value through "amazing prices, every single day".
• The most recent marketing campaign for Winners, HomeSense and Marshalls feature the benefits of shopping in their physical stores and uses the #OfflineShopping hashtag.
• The "Finders Keepers" marketing campaign by Winners advertises finding great clothes for less money.
• TJX created the "TJX Canada STYLE+ Loyalty Program" for shoppers to use in Winners, Marshalls or HomeSense stores. It is a free program with various benefits including 30-day returns, eReceipts, and special offers.
• Winners drives engagement and invites shoppers to share their pictures on Facebook and Instagram by using the #WINNERSFabFinds hashtag. Marshalls and HomeSense use the same strategy with #LoveMarshalls and #MyHomeSense hashtags.

Social Impact Initiatives

• Winners, HomeSense and Marshalls launched a charitable initiative "Find Your Stride" which aims to help "vulnerable women achieve economic independence".
• In 2018, TJX Canada used different new technologies in more than 100 stores and saved around 2,100 metric tons of equivalent carbon dioxide.
• The TJX stores in Canada use "The Joy Project" initiative to motivate and inspire associates and build better connections between employees and customers.
• The "Winning Balance" program helps employees understand their teams and teaches them to be better leaders.

TJX International

1. Acquisition

• The TJX Companies has made a total of four acquisitions, none of which transpired in the past two to three years.

• The most-recent acquisition was made in October 2015, when The TJX Companies acquired "Trade Secret, an off-price retailer based in Australia." Though The TJX Companies made the acquisition, it was for T.K. Maxx because, as a result of the acquisition, Australian Trade Secret stores were converted "to T.K. Maxx stores."
• The TJX Companies paid $80 million AUD (approximately $55.6 million USD) to "acquire[] Trade Secret from Gazal Corporation."

2. Financial Health

• TJX International "delivered significantly improved performance in 2018."
• TJX International exceeded $5 billion in net sales in 2018.
• TJX International's "comparable store sales" increased by three percent in 2018, despite Europe's difficult retail environment.
• The TJX Companies provided the following statement about TJX International in its 2018 annual report: "In the U.K., we feel very good about the fact that the gap between our comp sales and that of other major U.K. brick-and-mortar retailers continued to widen in 2018 as we pursued opportunities to capture additional market share."
• The company's 2018 annual report also stated that "T.K. Maxx in Australia delivered very strong sales . . . ."
• The TJX Companies said that it "see[s] vast potential to continue growing this division [TJX International] throughout our current countries, to approximately 1,100 stores."

3. Marketing/Media Strategies

• We did not find any information suggesting that TJX International does unified marketing. For example, TJX International doesn't have its own YouTube channel (or other social media channel), yet its brands do (T.K. Maxx and Homesense).
• Humor and a theatrical/cartoon vibe are marketing/media strategies that T.K. Maxx uses. One such example is this commercial the brand aired for the Christmas 2019 season. Another example of those same marketing/media strategies is this commercial the brand aired in April 2019.

4. Social Impact Initiative

• In its 2018 Global Corporate Responsibility Report, The TJX Companies said that it was currently testing out the use of "two double deck trailers for transport of products between Poland and Germany" which are countries that T.K. Maxx operates in, thus making this trend applicable to TJX International.

• The use of those trailers constitute a social impact initiative because they "are designed to increase cubic capacity and deliver improved aerodynamics" which ultimately helps to reduce the company's CO2 emissions.
• The company also stated in its 2018 Global Corporate Responsibility Report that it reduced its CO2 emissions resulting from its logistics operations in Europe by "1,300 metric tons."

Research Strategy

Follow Me Ad

• The most recent TJ Maxx ad campaign included "Chuck" and "Shazaam" actor Zachary Levi and can be seen here.
• The ad: "On a dark and cold city street, Zachary Levi in a festive red coat notices the people around him have run out of gift ideas. He breaks into song and says that inspiration for everyone on your holiday list can be found at T.J.Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods. As he strolls down the street, the lights turn on and people begin to smile and dance while following him in true musical number fashion. When they finally arrive at the stores they’ve been looking for, TJX Companies says you can spend less and gift better at their retailers."
• "The crowd follows Mr. Levi to the magical place where a voiceover encourages viewers to spend less, gift better at T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods.”
• The impact of the ad has not been reported yet as holiday sales figures are still being generated.

The TJX Style + Canada Social Media Campaign

• Many of TJX's divisions, Marshall's and TJ Maxx, are known for their aggressive rewards programs.
•  TJX Style + Canada is a loyalty and rewards program, initiated by TJX and allowing Canadian customers to carry over benefits between three major TJX retailers in that country.
• While the program was launched in 2012, advertising for the program has been ongoing.
• Recent marketing for the program has focused on the hashtag #tjxstyle, on twitter and Instagram as well as through the companies' websites and a unique TJX Style + website, bolstered by email lists and newsletters.

• The integrated TJX retailers are Winners, HomeSense, and Marshalls.

• TJX promoted the rewards program by highlighting it in-store, online, and by promoting the hashtag #TJXstyle as recently as December 2019.
• The program is credited in the TJX annual financial report for contributing to the companies' growth in Canada.

• However, engagement with the hashtags on Instagram and twitter are low with only 138 Instagram posts using the hashtag and even fewer on Twitter 
• Critics point out that the value offered to the customer is low compared to other loyalty programs and that the privacy compromises are above average, especially when weighed against the value of the program.
• While these latter two criticisms are aimed at the underlying program, rather than the social media marketing campaign, it can be assumed that a more successful marketing campaign would be better at defusing such criticisms.
• The privacy concern is especially troubling for TJX, which is still suffering under the shadow of its famous 2005/2006 security breach.

T.J. Maxx #Maxximizing Game

• In spring of 2019, the TJX company T.J. Maxx arranged to set up 6 "pods"; large glass cases filled with T.J. Maxx products in six locations across the U.S.
• Customers were encouraged to guess at the total price of the contents of the pods and post their guesses online, especially on Instagram.
• Posters received prizes including gift-cards and discounts, as six non-TJX "influencer" partners played host to the "pods."

• This unique "game" dovetails specifically T.J. Maxx and TJX's general success in promoting itself as a "bargain/treasure hunter" retail space for customers looking to find special deals among TJX companies' large and often changing discount name brand inventory.

• The #Maxximizing hashtag received 298 mentions on Instagram.
• This is respectable for a one-off event, but maybe low contrasted against more successful trending tags.
• The Event also received considerable coverage and even praise from marketing analysts and advertising-focused publications.

Further Insights

• TJX companies have seen a great deal of growth and success in a sector generally seen to be under siege (brick-and-mortar retail) by online retailers like amazon.
• TJX has been especially successful in building new brand loyalty. This is despite a lackluster loyalty/rewards program (noted above) and an uneven track record, especially in the online space. (The company outright abandoned online retail in 2005, although the acquisition of SierraTradingPost.com, now Sierra.com, brought them back into the space in 2012.)
• The trend demonstrated in the above case studies, and in other marketing conducted by the company, suggests that the company is well-advised (and successfully adjusting to the need) to focus on leveraging word-of-mouth and "maven" marketing, over more common marketing strategies.

The Maxx You Project

• The "Maxx You Project" is an ongoing campaign by T.J. Maxx that has the mission of "encouraging women to embrace their individuality, together."
• Currently in its third year, which indicates it is successful, the 2019 "Maxx You Project" includes "The Changing Room," an interactive experience with "interactive display mirrors, talent keynote speeches, panel discussions and individual story recording booths."
• The interactive mirrors tell the stories of women who have experienced change, but begin by showing the individual's reflection before turning into a life-size video screen.
• Best-selling author Lea Michele shares her own story about embracing change and lifestyle blogger, entrepreneur, and New York Times Best Selling Author Lauren Scruggs talks about her "life-altering experience through personal tragedy and how she emerged on the other side stronger than ever."
• "The Changing Room" was scheduled to appear in eight stores across the country, and women would be able to schedule a one-hour consultation with a life coach and stylist duo to help them begin to change their lives.
• Past events include workshops for women led by Kelly Rowland that featured "keynote speakers, networking opportunities, tools and resources."
• Additionally, there are interactive online classes to help women embrace their own identity on "The Maxx You Project How To" Udemy page. More than 9,000 students have signed up for these classes.
• In addition to the interactive experience, the "Maxx You Project" also has a Facebook page that provides women with the opportunity to "connect, collaborate and discuss the impact change" has had on their individuality.
• The "Maxx You Project" Facebook page has over 3.2 million likes and over 3,000 members, indicating the campaign's success.