TJ Maxx is thriving.
TJ Maxx’s parent company, TJX Companies, reported on November 20 that comparable sales were up 9% at TJ Maxx and Marshalls in the most recent fiscal quarter. It was the 17th consecutive quarter that customer traffic was up at the stores.
The off-price retailer has been benefiting from a disappearing middle class and a higher demand for budget options — two factors that have been hurting department stores like JCPenney and Sears.
Many shoppers have become accustomed to heavy discounting in the past decade.
“The value-seeking mindset is an interesting one as it is often assumed that it is most prevalent during times of economic difficulty. However, our data shows that it is now an underlying constant in terms of what consumers look for when shopping,” Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, wrote in a note to investors in August.
TJ Maxx has also been able to avoid the ill effects of declining foot traffic to shopping malls. Most TJ Maxx stores are located in suburban strip malls rather than enclosed shopping malls, so the discount chain is less likely to be affected by the declining foot traffic that has hurt malls and the retailers that depend on them.
Like other off-price retailers, TJ Maxx is know for offering a treasure-hunt experience in stores, which is difficult to replicate online.
We recently visited TJ Maxx and saw why the store is doing so well: