The TXJ Cos. Inc. is looking to Mexico for growth.
The American off-price retailer signed a joint venture (JV) agreement with Grupo Axo, S.A.P.I. de C.V., an operator of global brands in Mexico and South America that includes both full- and off-price formats.
The JV, which still requires Mexican antitrust clearance from regulators, is expected to close later this year. Under the terms of the agreement, TJX would own 49 percent of the JV and Axo would own the 51 percent balance. The JV would consist of Axo’s off-price, physical store operation in Mexico. That business includes over more than stores under the Promoda, Reduced and Urban Store banners.
“As the world’s retail leader in off-price apparel and home fashions, we are excited about the opportunity to expand to Mexico through our partnership with Axo, and grow and enhance that country’s leading off-price retailer,” TJX president and CEO Ernie Herrman said. He said he sees “excellent potential to grow in another region and deliver our value proposition to a growing population of fashion- and value-conscious consumers in Mexico.”
Axo’s multibrand and multichannel retail operations include apparel, fashion accessories, footwear, beauty and personal care product categories across Mexico, Chile, Peru and Uruguay.
“We could not have found a better partner for our off-price physical store business than TJX, the leading off-price retailer of apparel and home fashions worldwide,” Axo chairman and co-founder Andrés Gómez said.
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Herrman said during the company’s first-quarter earnings conference call last month that he wanted to capture market share around the world and that there was potential for TJX to expand by at least another 1,300-plus stores with its current banners in existing countries.
And Herrman has often said that the off price model is flexible, not to mention that there’s no shortage of availability of goods and deals even with the planned expansion. Apparel and home are the top categories at TJX’s stores.
TJX currently operates more than 4,900 stores across nine countries under the banners T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Homesense and Sierra in the U.S.; Winners, HomeSense and Marshalls in Canada; TK Maxx and Homesense in Europe and TK Maxx in Australia.
In other news, TJX’s Marshalls banner last October teamed with Priyanka Chopra Jonas to showcase its Good Stuff Social Club, a two-day experiential event in N.Y.C as part of Marshalls’ empowering women program. In addition to a Masterclass led by the actress, the event included interactive learnings and networking opportunities to give women access to resources and communities to create the life they want.
Marshalls said on Friday that it has a slate of new and returning programming as part of its Good Stuff Social Club, again in partnership with Chopra Jonas. But this time, the brand is taking the experiential event on the road. It heads to Atlanta on Saturday, followed by Chicago later this year. Marshalls said it will disclose more cities where the events also will be held. Atlanta’s program include media personality Lauren Speed-Hamilton as the day’s host, celebrity stylist Zerina Akers and personal finance and investment expert Vivian Tu, among others.
“I was honored to be invited to keynote at the first ever Good Stuff Social Club and what I loved most about the experience is that it fostered a supportive community where women could network and access incredible experts and their life-changing advice, tools, and resources, but also peers, and new friends. It was the sense of community and togetherness that was so powerful,” Chopra Jonas said, adding that after that event, she wanted to expand the reach of the Social Club to women in different cities.
Marshalls said it will donate $400,000 through the TJX Foundation to change-making organizations such as Mentor, Girls Inc. and Savvy Ladies to sponsor programming that gives girls and women the resources and opportunities to “grow and thrive nationwide.”