Marshalls

For other uses, see Marshalls (disambiguation).

Marshalls, Inc.

Type	Subsidiary of TJX Companies
Industry	Retail
Founded	Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. (1956)
Headquarters	Framingham, Massachusetts
Products	Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, and housewares.
Website	www.marshallsonline.com/ (USA), www.marshallscanada.ca/en/index.asp (Canada)

Marshalls store, Dearborn, Michigan

Marshalls, Inc., is a chain of American department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 750 conventional stores, as well as larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store, covering 42 states and Puerto Rico. Marshalls expanded into Canada in March 2011.^[1] Marshalls is the U.S.'s second largest off-price family apparel and home fashion retailer, behind its sister company, T.J. Maxx.

History

Marshalls traces its history to 1956, when Alfred Marshall gathered a band of innovative entrepreneurs on the East Coast who included Bernard Goldston and Norman Barren (Frank Estey and Bernard Ribas joined the entrepreneurs in 1960 by purchasing Bernard Goldston's shares) to collectively start up the "Brand Names For Less" concept. Contemplating the dual postwar phenomena of a boom in the economy and growth in the suburbs, Marshall and associates came upon a way to meet it profitably. Together, they opened a self-service department store in Beverly, Massachusetts, offering apparel and homewares at alluringly low prices. Additional floor space was "sublet" to offer customers shoes, hardware and sporting goods from separate sellers, but the separate ownership of those departments was invisible to the shopper. The original store also had a soda fountain/grill... another sublet of floor space, the "A & M Luncheonette" (for Alice & Mickey Masters, the proprietors).

The concept proved extremely successful; ten years later, Marshalls had become the leading off-price retail chain in the nation. Given the volatility of the American economy in the 1970s, with recession affecting the spending habits of most shoppers, the off-price industry gathered speed. By buying up manufacturers’ post-season, over-run, and close-out stock, Marshalls was able to offer fashionable, high-quality “designer” items at prices 20 to 60 percent less than those of the department stores.

In 1976, Marshalls was acquired by Melville Corporation (owner of CVS), and experienced tremendous growth from 1977 into the 1980s. By 1993, Marshalls had expanded throughout 42 states including Hawaii, and had opened several downtown locations. In 1995, Marshalls was purchased by TJX, the parent company of its main rival, T.J. Maxx, for $606 million.

Legal troubles

TJX paid US$100 million settlement in California to settle an employee class-action suit in 2002 which alleged that Marshalls abused exempt/nonexempt classifications to avoid the payment of overtime or compensation time to employees in certain roles performing non-exempt job duties as required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

Charity

The enterprise has developed national and local partnerships with U.S. charitable organizations. All donations and fund-raising efforts from Marshalls are connected to helping children, families, and their communities with these programs:

• Domestic Violence Prevention
• United Way
• National Youth Anti-Drug Campaign
• Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
• Saint Jude's Children's Hospital

Canada

Marshalls opened three stores in Ontario in March 2011 in the Toronto areas of Scarborough and Leaside, and the suburban Vaughan area of Woodbridge. These stores are located in the vicinity of Winners and HomeSense stores, which are also divisions of TJX. There are further plans to open stores in Ajax and Mississauga in April 2011.

See also

• TJX Companies
• T.J. Maxx

Notes

1. ^ http://www.financialpost.com/open+Marshalls+Canada/3300522/story.html

External links

• Marshalls Official Website
• Marshalls Canada
• TJX Companies Official Website
• Marshalls What's In Community