TJ Maxx & Marshalls – The Place for Back-to-School Shopping!

I was delighted to be invited to the TJ Maxx/Marshalls mom blog event in Boston, which was my first ever blogging event.  I had no clue what to expect and didn’t know any of the moms attending!  I arrived at the Fairmont Copley Plaza and my mouth dropped.  It was hands-down one of the nicest hotels I have stayed in.  We started off the event at the Cottonwood Cafe for a meet-and-greet to get to know each other and the representatives for TJ Maxx/Marshalls.

The next day was when the real fun began.  We got picked up bright and early and headed off to the TJX headquarters.  Did you know TJ Maxx and Marshalls are both owned by the same company TJX? (as well as Home Goods, AJWright, Winners, Homesense, Stylesense and TK Maxx).  We arrived at the room where the day’s activities were to begin and it was covered with TJ Maxx/Marshalls promotional signage that you’ve probably seen in their stores lately.  One thing I learned about their promotions (commercials, print, etc) is that they cannot print the brand-names that they carry in their stores.  Why is this?  Both TJ Maxx and Marshalls are “off-price retailers,”  which means:

Off-Price retailers sell major name brand clothing and accessories at a significant discounted price.  They are able to do this because they take advantage of overruns, canceled orders and forecasting mistakes. 

If you have never been to TJ Maxx or Marshall’s before, then you might have some misconceptions about what the stores offer.  All of the items in the store are major brands like: Dkny, American Eagle, Jessica Simpson, Betsy Johnson and probably any major label you can think of. 90% of the items sold are PERFECT, as you would see in department stores and 10% is “irregular,” which states so on the tag.

What makes TJ Maxx and Marshall’s different from other stores? (besides the prices)  It is a new store every week!  Literally 10,000 new items are brought into each store each week.  I love this aspect of the store because each time I go in there, I know everything will be new.

More about the event….

Everyone involved did a great job putting on the event.  The accommodations were breathtaking, travel was wonderful, food was delicious, and everyone was super nice.  They even had a fashion show and off-price game to combine fun while learning about their company.  I won a DKNY wrap in the game and I am soo jealous of Tanya from Mommy Goggles who won a $2,500 Gucci bag!

I learned so much about TJ Maxx and Marshall’s, with these beautiful ladies: (Thanks to Susan at 5 minutes for mom for composing this list)

@gograhamgo, @fashionablegal, @acowboyswife, @petit_elefant, @onechicmama, @alliworthington, @ADramaticMommy,@audreymcclellan, @bostonmamas, @5minutesformom, @susancarraretto, @mommieswithcent, @stacieinatlanta, @akblessings, @jentifa, @3PsinaPod, @mommygoggles, @busymomblog, @jodigrundig, @mindicherry, @dcrmom

Remember to check out TJ Maxx and Marshalls for all of your Back to School needs!