One retail store that I like shopping at is TJmaxx. If you have time to search through the many racks, you can find some quality clothes for a bargain. I know a few people who prefer something other than that store because clothes are out of season or they think it has cheap options, but this is not necessarily true. While shopping there, I have not considered their business practices or research why the items were low-cost. I went off TJmaxx marketing and assumed that the clothes were last-season over-stock things, and I thought I was making an ethical decision to shop there. However, the more I read while searching on their ethics and corporate social responsibility, I have some feelings towards the general business practice.

TJmaxx’s mission is to provide high value to its customers, associates, and community while benefiting the business and the environment. The company is a top off-price apparel and home fashion retailer worldwide. They operate in 9 countries with 4700 stores and have 340,000 associates. On Glassdoor, they have a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, and 59% of employees would recommend working there. The company is a reputable, ethical business for an average customer due to its perceived optimism and caring about customer marketing.

TJmaxx has discount prices for known high and low-end brands. They can offer these low prices because they take advantage of opportunities to purchase from department store cancellations, over-manufactured products, or when a vendor wants to clear their merchandise at the end of the season. The other product source is the line of clothes they design and produce. They provide ethics codes for vendors and sourcing practices to ensure sustainability. However, there still can be issues. When the brands know they will become a seller to off-price retailers such as TJmaxx, they may tend to be less ethical with the planning of manufacturing products. For instance, they might decide to make more because it will be cheaper at a high quantity, and then if they don’t sell, they can still cover the cost by reselling to TJmaxx type retailer. Another issue is TJmaxx does not solely buy from ethical brands. They also have fast fashion lines for sale, including not environmentally friendly materials.

Tjmaxx does focus on creating a safe and beneficial workplace. They believe their associates bring their business to life and try to attract top-tier talent to work there. They care about inclusion and diversity by ensuring the recruitment process is not biased and, for instance, changing the language that might affect the ability to connect with diverse candidates—TJmaxx actively recruits from college campuses and offers internships and co-op programs that will benefit students. Current employees are offered career development with leadership conferences and courses designed to enhance their professionalism and skills. They also have a University that created a two-year program with one-on-one coaching to help employees be capable of succeeding in their current roles and progress in the next step of their careers. For well-being, Tjmaxx provides employees with vast resources on different techniques and support for personal issues and work-life balance. Tjmaxx has a high rating for its benefits package from current employees.

TJmaxx cares about giving back to the community, as stated in its mission. They provided donations to many organizations and even included their customers to get involved. In-store sells items that, when purchased, a little of the money goes to a fundraiser. Also, donations are suggested at checkout, which puts pressure on customers, but if more people are involved, there will be more to give back to communities.
Overall, Tjmaxx has a good reputation for corporate social responsibility. There can be improvements since they did have some ethical scandals, such as waste disposal and selling recalled items. Tjmaxx can strictly stand by its advertised practices to improve customer trust. Tjmaxx should know what they purchase and sell to the public regarding fur, recalled items, and environmentally friendly sources. While handling an ethical issue is better than not addressing it, avoiding the problem from the start by taking the time to research all purchases is best.

TJmaxx can improve its sourcing by not purchasing from fast fashion brands and slowing down its production of clothing lines to limit the excess products at the end of the season. TJmaxx can improve employee benefits by offering equity to the company in stocks or other means, which will help with wage issues and increase the morale and productivity of their workforce. I will still shop at Tjmaxx. However, I will thoroughly search the specific brand item to make sure it is an ethical brand before purchasing.