T.K. Maxx is the only 'off-price' retailer in Europe with stores throughout the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and Germany[1]. The company is part of the TJX Companies which also owns other 'off-price' retail chains such as T.J. Maxx and Marshalls in the United States. They offer brand name clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, beauty products, and housewares at up to 60% off their recommended retail price.
History
The first T.K. Maxx opened in Bristol in 1994.[2]. T.K. Maxx's United States parent company, T.J. Maxx, adopted the name T.K. Maxx to avoid confusion with the existing but separate discount chain T J Hughes[citation needed]. TK Maxx is part of TJX Europe headed by Paul Sweetenham as SEVP Group President.TJX Europe is split into four divisions, TK Maxx UK & Ireland headed by Susanne Given. TK Maxx Germany headed by Gino Barrera and HomeSense UK headed by Dave Alves. The fourth division is Shared Services which as the title suggests consists of shared services between the three trading divisions such as distribution, logistics, buying and finance. Each trading division has their own Human Resource, Marketing & Loss Prevention departments to meet the individual needs of each division.
In 2007 TK Maxx began a slowing down of new store openings within the UK. Focus was given to revamping older inner city stores or relocating them. Some of the chains first stores such as Bristol and Reading have been expanded and extensively refurbished while others such as Southampton, Cardiff and Hull have been relocated to bigger sites. As part of the businesses slow down of new stores, TK Maxx confirmed that they were only interested in opening stores averaging 30,000 sq ft. This decision saw the creation of the Maxx Maxx concept, a new department store format that saw TK Maxx get away from its pack it high, sell it cheap reputation into a large store format that sees a much larger product offer. Examples of Maxx Maxx store are Cardiff, Birmingham Bull Ring, Hammersmith, Manchester Market Street, Dundee & Cork.
The business continues to expand and in recent years TK Maxx has concentrated its efforts on developing individual brands, such as Kids Maxx and expanding Shoe departments. The introduction of new departments such as jewellery have improved customer choice.[citation needed]
The company also intends further expansion into the German market. The first store in Germany opened on 4 October 2007 in Lübeck.[3] The chain hopes that this will be more successful than the company's earlier attempt at opening stores in the Netherlands between 1999 and 2001.
In the UK in 2007 T.K. Maxx was an active participant of Comic Relief, having been the sole retailer of the Red Nose Day t-shirts which generated £2 million to the Comic Relief cause.[4]. In 2009 T.K. Maxx is the sole retailer again of the Red Nose Day t-shirts with exclusive designs by Stella McCartney.
In August 2008 TK Maxx opened its first central London store on High Street Kensington formerly occupied by Habitat.[citation needed]In 2009 TK Maxx plans to open new stores in Worcester and Lancaster both in former Woolworths stores as well as Capitol Shopping Park, Preston.
As of June 2009 TK Maxx operated 243 stores across Europe. 212 stores in the United Kingdom, 13 in the Republic of Ireland and 18 in Germany.
In the later part of 2009 TK Maxx is to open 3 stores in Poland for the first time. Sites in the Krakow, Katowice and Lodz regions are being considered.
Credit card fraud
In March 2007, the company was at the center of major credit card fraud. Details of customers’ credit cards and debit cards were accessed by computer hackers, exposing 45 million customers to potential theft from their accounts. According to the company this affected customers who used their card between January 2003 and June 2004 at any branch of T.K. Maxx.[5] Outside security provider Protegrity has estimated that T.K. Maxx's losses as a result of the data breach may reach £800 million in the years to come. The losses would come as a result of paying for credit checks and administrative costs for managing the fallout from the breach.[6]
See also
References
- ^ "About T.K. Maxx". T.K. Maxx. http://www.tjx.com/about/tkmaxx.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-10.
- ^ Hoovers. "The TJX Companies, Inc". Answers.com. http://www.answers.com/topic/the-tjx-companies-inc?cat=biz-fin. Retrieved on 2007-06-25.
- ^ "About T.K. Maxx". T.K. Maxx. http://www.tjx.com/about/tkmaxx.html. Retrieved on 2007-06-25.
- ^ "Red Nose Day Partners". Comic Relief. 2007-06-25. http://www.rednoseday.com/partners/t-k-maxx/. Retrieved on 2007-06-25.
- ^ "Millions are caught in great credit card heist". TimesOnline.co.uk. 2007-03-30. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/money/consumer_affairs/article1588849.ece. Retrieved on 2007-06-25.
- ^ John E., Dunn (2007-06-12). "T.K. Maxx data breach costs could hit £800m". [http://www.ComputerWorldUK.com. http://www.computerworlduk.com/management/security/data-control/news/index.cfm?newsid=3442. Retrieved on 2007-06-25.
External links
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