The TJX Companies

In 1919, brothers Max and Morris Feldberg launched The New England Trading Company, a wholesale hosiery business. In 1956 the family opened stores in Massachusetts under the name Zayre, and second-generation members Stanley H. Feldberg and Sumner A. Feldberg later took charge of the business.⁠[1]

The company was incorporated in 1962 as Zayre Corp.⁠[2]

In 1976, Zayre Corp. recruited Ben Cammarata to develop a new off-price chain. In 1977, the first two TJ Maxx stores opened in Auburn and Worcester, Massachusetts.⁠[3]

In 1987, Zayre formed a new entity called The TJX Companies, Inc., with TJ Maxx, Hit or Miss and Chadwick’s of Boston as its initial retail banners.⁠[3]

That June, TJX sold 9.35 million shares of common stock in its initial public offering, while Zayre kept 83 percent of the subsidiary.⁠[2]

In September 1988, Zayre sold its discount store division to Ames. That December it announced a restructuring: it would distribute to stockholders a new company owning the Warehouse Clubs division, with BJ’s Wholesale Club and HomeClub, then merge with TJX, giving minority TJX holders 1.35 Zayre shares per TJX share, and rename the combined company TJX Companies at its June 1989 annual meeting.⁠[4]

In June 1989 the company spun off its warehouse club division, Waban, Inc., and later that month changed its name from Zayre Corp. to The TJX Companies, Inc.; headed by Cammarata, it began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.⁠[2]

TJX acquired Winners in Canada in 1990, introduced the HomeGoods home fashions chain in the U.S. in 1992, and launched T.K. Maxx in Europe in 1994.⁠[5]

In November 1995, TJX completed its acquisition of Marshalls from Melville Corporation for $375 million in cash plus junior convertible preferred stock with an aggregate liquidation preference of $175 million. Marshalls then operated about 500 stores.⁠[6]

Cammarata became chairman of the board of TJX in 1999.⁠[7]

From 2000, Edmond (Ted) English served as president and chief executive officer of TJX.⁠[8]

In 2001, TJX opened its HomeSense home fashions chain in Canada.⁠[5]

On September 13, 2005, English resigned as president, chief executive officer and director, effective immediately; the board named Chairman Ben Cammarata acting president and chief executive officer and began a search for a permanent CEO.⁠[8]

Carol Meyrowitz, a former senior executive vice president who had worked for TJX as a consultant after leaving that post, was elected president effective October 17, 2005.⁠[9]

Meyrowitz, who joined the company in 1987, became chief executive officer in January 2007 and served as president until January 2011.⁠[7]

In December 2006, TJX suspended share repurchases following the discovery and investigation of a computer intrusion in which it believed customer data were stolen. In fiscal 2008, ended January 26, 2008, it recorded pre-tax charges of $197.0 million related to the intrusion and entered into a settlement of the consolidated consumer class actions, subject to final court approval.⁠[10]

TJX disclosed the breach, which occurred in 2005, in January 2007; it exposed more than 45 million credit and debit cards. The Federal Trade Commission charged that TJX stored and transmitted personal information in clear text. Under the March 2008 settlement, TJX had to establish a comprehensive information security program and submit to biennial data security audits for 20 years; it included no fines.⁠[11]

In 2008, TJX opened HomeSense in the U.K.⁠[5]

TJX brought Marshalls to Canada in 2011. In the first quarter of fiscal 2012 it completed the consolidation of A.J. Wright, converting 90 stores to T.J. Maxx, Marshalls or HomeGoods and closing the remaining 72.⁠[12]

TJX acquired Sierra Trading Post in 2012, and T.J. Maxx launched a new e-commerce website in 2013.⁠[12]

In the fall of 2015, TJX acquired Trade Secret in Australia, whose 35 stores carried merchandise comparable to T.J. Maxx. By January 28, 2017, T.K. Maxx operated in the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Poland, Austria and the Netherlands, and TJX had 3,812 stores and about 235,000 employees.⁠[13]

In October 2015, the TJX board said it intended to elect President Ernie Herrman chief executive officer effective at the start of the next fiscal year, January 31, 2016; Herrman would keep the title of president, and Meyrowitz would become executive chairman at the transition.⁠[14]

Herrman has served as chief executive officer since January 2016.⁠[13]

In March 2020, TJX temporarily closed all of its stores, distribution centers and online businesses because of the COVID-19 pandemic, furloughed most of its hourly store and distribution center workforce, and suspended its dividend and buyback programs; stores reopened in stages during the second quarter. Closures covered about 24 percent of fiscal 2021, when net sales were $32.1 billion, down 23 percent from fiscal 2020.⁠[15]

In May 2022, TJX committed to divest from Familia, an off-price retailer operating in Russia, and recorded an impairment charge of $217.6 million, the entirety of its investment, which reduced first-quarter fiscal 2023 earnings per share by $0.19.⁠[16]

In June 2024, TJX formed a joint venture with Mexico’s Grupo Axo covering Axo’s 200 off-price physical stores in Mexico, operating as Promoda, Reduced and Urban Store; TJX holds 49 percent and Axo 51 percent.⁠[17]

In August 2024, TJX announced it would invest about $360 million for a 35 percent stake in Dubai-based Brands for Less, an off-price apparel, toys and home fashions retailer with more than 100 stores in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and expected the deal to close later that fiscal year.⁠[18]

TJX completed the minority investment in 2024.⁠[3]

TJX operates four segments: Marmaxx, HomeGoods, TJX Canada and TJX International. At January 31, 2026, it had 5,214 stores, including 1,348 TJ Maxx and 1,255 Marshalls stores in the U.S., 1,042 in the HomeGoods segment, 589 in TJX Canada and 835 in TJX International, and about 377,000 associates. TK Maxx entered Spain in March 2026.⁠[19]

On February 25, 2026, TJX announced fiscal 2026 net sales of $60.4 billion, up 7 percent, with consolidated comparable sales up 5 percent, net income of $5.5 billion and diluted earnings per share of $4.87. It returned $4.3 billion to shareholders through buybacks and dividends during the year.⁠[20]

On August 19, 2026, TJX announced results for the second quarter of fiscal 2027, ended August 1, 2026: net sales of $15.2 billion, up 5 percent; consolidated comparable sales up 4 percent; and net income of $1.5 billion, or $1.36 per diluted share, including a $0.14 net benefit from tariff refunds.⁠[21]