#tjx

Wait is that true?

*in extremely tired announcer voice*

ATTENTION TJ OR NOW TK MAXX SHOPPERS. We have now offically changed our name to TK Maxx In the United Kingdom due to the recent ban of the letter J by the King due to it making him think of his ex Husband Jeremy who he just despises.

*In announcer voice*

All Tj Maxx shoppers it has now been revealed that everything in the store shall be yellow ticketed soon so come and shop while you can after it’s over everything is gone.

✨ Perfect finds today ft....

For many years, we were taught that in early societies, men were the hunters and women the gatherers. It made some logical sense, given the strength disparity between us. It also fit in nicely with religious narratives that delineate gender-based roles. Cue the mental imagery of strong men hurling spears, and docile women picking berries.

But that old assumption has increasingly been debunked of late, with studies showing that in those early societies, most women hunted too. Gathering, it turns out, was left for those unable to hunt, which could just as well have included some men, especially the elderly. Labor specialization was more important in the evolution of humans than prescribed roles.

And there is perhaps no better place to see female hunting instincts and acumen than at TJ Maxx and its family stores (TJX Companies, Inc. $117.48). The company sells name-brand merchandise at bargain prices, with a constantly changing array of items on racks and shelves. In other words, each visit is different, and you better visit often, lest you miss out on the really good stuff.

TJ Maxx reports that 93% of its customers are women, who are equally likely to shop for the men in their lives. That doesn’t mean that men cannot shop there; it’s just that we will be a distinct minority.

While it would be easy to describe the TJX experience as the thrill of the hunt, the company prefers to view it as a treasure hunt. And at a time while “trading down” because of inflation often conjures images of highly distressed merchandise, TJ Maxx manages to attract customers from low, middle, and upper income strata alike. This is not Ross or Burlington, nor Big Lots and Ollie’s, the latter two of which leave me feeling like I need to bathe after departing.

That’s golden for TJX, because their stores have cachet. You don’t shop there because you have to. No, you shop there because you want to.

To their great credit, TJ Maxx keeps the most desirable brand names off its website. This helps insure there is no dilution for those brands; you have to find them in-store, and what you find, you get to wear or carry with all the badge value you would have accrued had you bought it at Macy’s or Dillards. If they put everything online, then everyone could see that bag, dress, or shoes, and where you got them.

This works well for both TJ Maxx and its vendors, many of whom post-COVID found themselves with inventory out of kilter as they scrambled to over-order in hopes of averting supply chain issues. The result was that many ended up with too much inventory, and TJ Maxx was more than happy to help liquidate it.

The company didn’t start out this way, though, as it once acted like its main competitors, where you go to find blemished products, manufacturer over-runs, or last season’s flops. Those competitors still retain that look and feel. TJ Maxx, though, has cleaned up its act considerably, erasing those memories of cluttered shops with garments and other merchandise strewn haphazardly. Turns out you can merchandise those treasures a lot better, and laugh about it all the way to the bank.

My wife will serve as Case Study #1. Her two favorite stores are TJ Maxx and HomeGoods, and she loves going early to have first crack at whatever had been stocked overnight. It’s the early bird thing all over again, but she ain’t shopping for worms. The thrill of the hunt is just as much an adrenaline rush for her and other women, as are other activities for the guys.

It’s about this time I realize that my love for grocery shopping—like my Dad the Accountant before me—really means I am just a gatherer. I’m not hunting at Walmart; no, I am replenishing all the things that have been consumed. I may as well be picking berries and putting them in a basket. That mental image is little different from me pushing a shopping cart.

It’s funny sometimes how our old stereotypes and assumptions are shattered with new evidence. It’s even better when a company can leverage this to great profit. If I—or you—had bought their stock at the beginning of the year, we would be enjoying a growth rate of about 26%. Not bad for a little less than 10 months.

I’d like to gather some of that kind of wealth.

Dr “Maybe It’s Time For Me To Go Shopping” Gerlich