TJX, Costco best positioned to buy competitors

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Discount retailers, including TJX Companies Inc (TJX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), are best positioned to buy distressed competitors, assume leases or expand into new concepts as the weakening economy takes its toll on several troubled retail companies, said Hilco's Nina Kampler on Wednesday.

"TJX is great, Burlington Coat is great, Costco Wholesale Corp (COST.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)is great," said Kampler, an executive vice president in liquidator Hilco's real estate division. "These retailers that I'm naming are an example of the value retailers who are in a position to assume some of these more distressed, troubled retailers and perhaps they become part of their different concepts.". . . more

No Stopping TJX

Millions of people have their personal financial records exposed when TJX Cos. has its computer systems hacked - not a problem. The economy softens and people reign in their spending, just not at TJX.

It appears no amount of bad news is enough to keep TJX and its chains including T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods and A.J. Wright from rolling right along. Sales at TJX stores open at least two years increased four percent in the latest quarter with a number of divisions in North America and Europe seeing high single and low double-digit revenue increases.

The company's CEO Carol Meyrowitz said it has benefited from being able to buy designer clothing, shoes and bedding on the cheap as department stores found themselves having to cut back on inventory and close stores.

TJX's allure is easy to understand, according to Patrick McKeever, an analyst with MKM Partners. "You know you are getting a good deal at T.J. Maxx and Marshalls,'' Mr. McKeever told Bloomberg. "If you look at off-price retailers, like TJX... you wouldn't know we're in a widespread consumer slowdown."

"In down economies, we tend to capture new customers," said Carol Meyrowitz, chief executive at TJX. "When times improve, our history has shown that our new customers stay with us because they love our value."

One TJX chain that has not fared so well is its Bobs Stores business. Same-store sales were off five percent and the company is exploring "strategic options" for the chain.

Source: RetailWire

Report: TJX Putting Bob’s Stores on Block

TJX Cos. is reportedly in discussions to sell its money-losing Bob's Stores, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people with knowledge of the sale process. TJX, whose brands in the United States include T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods and A.J. Wright, has benefited as shoppers look for cheaper alternatives. It posted a nearly 20% profit gain on a 6% increase in sales in its first quarter ended April 26. The bulk of TJX’s sales come from T.J. Maxx and Marshalls. But Bob's Stores, which TJX acquired in bankruptcy in 2003, remains in a slump. According to the report -- which cites anonymous sources -- potential buyers for Bob's include private-equity firm Versa Capital Management Inc. The report said TJX's adviser Peter J. Solomon Co. is seeking a buyer that will keep Bob's 34 stores open.

Source: Chain Store Age

TJX settles data breach charges, avoids fines

WASHINGTON - More than a year after millions of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls customers found out their credit card information had been hacked into, the discount stores' operator agreed to have its information audited but avoided paying federal fines.

TJX Cos. was one of three firms that agreed to settle charges that each "failed to provide reasonable and appropriate security for sensitive consumer information," federal regulators said yesterday in two unrelated data-breach decisions.

Data broker Reed Elsevier PLC and its Seisint subsidiary also avoided fines but have agreed to obtain third-party audits biennially for 20 years under a separate settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

The agreements, which will be finalized after a 30-day public comment period, also require the companies to implement comprehensive information security programs. "These cases bring to 20 the number of complaints in which the FTC has charged companies with security deficiencies in protecting sensitive consumer information," FTC chairwoman Deborah Platt Majoras said.
TJX said last March that at least 45.7 million cards were exposed to possible fraud in a breach of its computer systems. Court filings by banks that sued TJX estimated the number of cards affected at more than 100 million.

In the other case, personal information about hundreds of thousands of people held by Netherlands-based Reed Elsevier's LexisNexis unit may have been accessed in 2005 by unauthorized individuals using stolen passwords and IDs to access Seisint databases.

Sherry Lang, TJX's senior vice president for investor and public relations, said the company disagreed with the FTC's allegations, but agreed to the settlement "which is consistent with the agreements between the FTC and other retailers that have been victimized by cyber crime."
The Framingham, Mass., company's 2,500 stores include the T.J. Maxx and Marshalls chains. TJX shares fell 29 cents to $33.27, while Reed Elsevier fell 83 cents to $49.97.

A spokeswoman for LexisNexis, which acquired Seisint in 2004, said it has resolved the issues identified by the government.

Source: Boston.com