T.J. Maxx
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T.J. Maxx (sometimes referred to as TJ's or TJ) is a chain of American department stores owned by TJX Companies. It is the largest off-price apparel retailer in the United States offering brand name clothing, ladies footwear, bedding and domestics, furniture and giftware, jewellery, beauty products, handbags, and housewares. All merchandise is claimed to be at least 20 - 60% below regular department and speciality store prices.[citation needed] The company operated 771 stores at the end of 2004. The average store size of a T.J. Maxx store is 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2).[citation needed]
[edit] History
In 1976, T.J. Maxx was founded in Framingham, Massachusetts, by Taras Sokil as a nameplate of the Zayre discount department store chain. When Zayre sold their own nameplate to Ames, a rival discount department store, Zayre was renamed as "TJX Companies, Incorporated"
T.J. Maxx also operates in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland under the name "T.K. Maxx". The first store opened in 1994 in Bristol. Between 1999 and 2001 T.K. Maxx had three stores in The Netherlands but those locations were unsuccessful and were closed. It was announced in 2007 that T.K. Maxx would be expanding into Germany as well as future expansion into France and other parts of Europe.[citation needed]
On March 31, 2008, T.J. Maxx launched the What's In community. This site allows users to send and receive alerts via email or text message when their favorite brands are spotted in their local T.J. Maxx stores. Users can also post pictures and create polls featuring their latest fashion finds.
The T.J Maxx Corporation was hit with a lawsuit by the Massachusetts Bankers Association and co-plaintiffs including Maine and Connecticut Associated Banks for at least 45 million lost credit and debit card numbers, which were stolen over an 18-month period. The security breach is the largest customer data breach on record. As a class-action lawsuit the company was sued for tens of millions of dollars.[citation needed]
[edit] Charity work
Every year, T.J. Maxx supports the Save the Children campaign and each store adopts a child to help support. In 2005, they raised over $1.25 million. ,The “Happy Hearts†initiative launched in 2000 has raised over $4.3 million to support U.S. children and families in need.[citation needed]
