Janiesha Simpkins
Fundamentals of Marketing
Kristen Hanlon
2 Sept. 2011

The Brand Foundation of TJ Maxx

The brand vision of TJ Maxx is very prosperous. According to research studies, TJ Maxx is convinced that its strong top-and bottom-line performance will continue. Its vast sourcing universe affords them enormous flexibility to react quickly to market trends and consumer preferences. In the 34 years that TJ Maxx has been in business, year after year, their great flexibility, particularly for a company their size, has enabled them to succeed through various economic and business cycles. Their off-price mission is to deliver a rapidly changing assortment of fashionable, quality, brand-name merchandise at prices that are 20-60 percent less than department and specialty prices everyday.

You may ask what is TJ Maxx’s brand definition--how do they make their money? First, let me say that TJ Maxx is the largest leading off-price retailer of apparel and home fashions in the world, ranking 119 in the most recent Fortune 500 listings. The company’s source merchandise globally from over 14,000 vendors in more than 60 countries and operate more like a sourcing machine than most retailers. Their financial strength gives them the strong foundation and flexibility to grow their business and simultaneously return value to shareholders. The elements of flexibility has been at the root of their consistent successful performance. They take an evolutionary, not a revolutionary approach. They seek clear visibility into expected financial returns before investing significantly or accelerate growth. http://www.tjx.com/about.asp

The brand position of The TJX Companies, Inc. is to be a global, off-price value company. With the 34 years of experience under their belt, it has shown that the company can successfully expand the off-price concept throughout the United States and internationally. Also, their experience has shown that their great value equation plays well in many countries around the world and appeals to customers from a wide range of income and age demographics. http://www.tjx.com/businesses.asp

TJX’s core target consumer is a middle-to upper-middle income shopper who is fashion conscious and fits the same profile as a department or specialty store shopper. The TJX Companies, Inc. has practiced excellence in corporate governance for more than three decades. They strongly believe that effective corporate governance must evolve and change with the needs of their stakeholders. With that being said, they listen carefully, re-evaluate their policies (Director Code of Business, Conduct and Ethics, Code of Ethics for TJX Executives and Associate Code of Conduct) and practices periodically and aim to act in the best interests of their associates, customers, shareholders, vendors and communities in which they operate. http://www.tjx.com/corporate_governance.asp In the process of prioritizing my SWOT analysis, first I considered how will TJ Maxx leverage their strengths and opportunities in achieving their marketing plans. Identifying their strengths as the largest leading retailer in the world, offering quality name-brand merchandise 20-60 percent below department and specialty stores, having a significant ROI (Return on Investment) and a solid relationship with many manufacturers and other merchandise suppliers with opportunities allowing anyone to progress with the company. It’s like bringing the outside inside. Like quoted before, TJX sources merchandise from over 60 countries worldwide. They are dedicated to sourcing not-for-resale goods and services in the U.S. from minority and women-owned businesses. TJX, in the past few years, has welcomed an unprecedented number of new associates from all parts of the globe and from different walks of life and experience offering a number of programs and trainings to leverage their marketing plans. The next thought I considered was how do TJ Maxx leverage their strengths and opportunities to address or overcome their weaknesses and threats? TJX stores have “no walls” between departments and their flexible business model enables them to move inventory dollars from one category to another very quickly as market trends and customers’ tastes change. However, over the 34 years, their annual and comparable store sales declined only once and since then they have delivered solid earnings growth and some of the highest financial returns in retail. http://www.tjx.com/corporate_leveraging.asp and http://www.tjx.com/about.asp

TJX has plentiful growth opportunities and see the potential to grow their business overtime to more than 4,300 stores with their current brand situation in the current markets. On the top-line, there remains significant opportunity to further their market penetration and tap consumers who have not yet shopped at their stores. This year in 2011, they plan to reach out even more aggressively with their marketing to those consumers, emphasizing that TJX is the source for current fashions at great value. On the bottom-line, they plan to run even leaner and make their supply chain even faster and better giving the company the confidence in sustainability. http://www.tjx.com/investor.asp and http://www.tjx.com/about.asp