TJ Maxx 2009 Annual Report Download - page 28

We may experience risks associated with our substantial size and scale.
We operate eight retail chains in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Some aspects of the businesses and operations of the
chains are conducted with relative autonomy. The large size of our operations, our multiple businesses and the autonomy
afforded to the chains increase the risk that systems and practices will not be implemented uniformly throughout our
company and that information will not be appropriately shared across different chains and countries.
Unseasonable weather in the markets in which our stores operate or our distribution centers are located could adversely affect our
operating results.
Adverse and unseasonable weather affects customers’ willingness to shop and their demand for the merchandise in
our stores. Severe weather could also affect our ability to transport merchandise to our stores from our distribution
centers. As a result, frequent, unusually heavy, unseasonable or untimely weather in our markets, such as snow, ice or rain
storms, severe cold or heat or extended periods of unseasonable temperatures, could adversely affect our sales and increase
markdowns.
Our results may be adversely affected by serious disruptions or catastrophic events.
Unforeseen public health issues, such as pandemics and epidemics, as well as natural disasters such as hurricanes,
tornadoes, floods, earthquakes and other adverse weather and climate conditions, whether occurring in the United States
or abroad, could disrupt the operations of one or more of our vendors or could severely damage or destroy one or more of
our stores or distribution facilities located in the affected areas. Our ability to receive products from our vendors or
transport products to our stores could be adversely affected or we could be required to close stores or distribution centers
in the affected areas or in areas served by the affected distribution center. As a result, our business could be adversely
affected.
Weoperateinhighlycompetitivemarkets,andwemaynotbeabletocompeteeffectively.
The retail apparel and home fashion business is highly competitive. We compete with many other local, regional,
national and international retailers that sell apparel, home fashions and other merchandise that we sell, whether in stores,
through catalogues or media or over the internet. We compete on the basis of fashion, quality, price, value, merchandise
selection and freshness, brand name recognition, service, reputation and store location. Other competitive factors that
influence the demand for our merchandise include our advertising, marketing and promotional activities and the name
recognition and reputation of our chains. If we fail to compete effectively, our sales and results of operations could be
adversely affected.
Failure to attract and retain quality sales, distribution center and other associates in appropriate numbers as well as experienced
buying and management personnel could adversely affect our performance.
Our performance depends on recruiting, developing, training and retaining quality sales, distribution center and
other associates in large numbers as well as experienced buying and management personnel. Many of our associates are in
entry level or part-time positions with historically high rates of turnover. The nature of the workforce in the retail
industry subjects us to the risk of immigration law violations, which risk has increased in recent years. Our ability to meet
our labor needs while controlling labor costs is subject to external factors such as unemployment levels, prevailing wage
rates, minimum wage legislation, changing demographics, health and other insurance costs and governmental labor and
employment requirements. In the event of increasing wage rates, if we fail to increase our wages competitively, the quality
of our workforce could decline, causing our customer service to suffer, while increasing our wages could cause our
earnings to decrease. In addition, certain associates in our distribution centers are members of unions and therefore
subject us to the risk of labor actions. Because of the distinctive nature of our off-price model, we must do significant
internal training and development for a substantial number of our associates. The market for retail management is highly
competitive and, in common with other retailers, we face challenges in securing sufficient management talent. If we do
not continue to attract and retain quality associates and management personnel, our performance could be adversely
affected.
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