The best way to label February for TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX ) is "acceptable." Company sales rose 6%, with 2% of that increase coming from same-store sales and 1% of the same-store sales increase coming from foreign currency gains.
TJ Maxx and Marshall's, also known as Marmaxx, had a flat performance in February compared to last year. Bob's Stores, HomeGoods, AJ Wright, and the Canadian operations tallied similar results, with the biggest change a decline of 2% at Bob's. The biggest gain came from the TK Maxx stores in the U.K. TK Maxx had a strong fourth quarter, and sales remained strong, with a 9% same-store sales increase in local currency for February. When translated into dollars, same-store sales increased 23%. This is by far the best performance out of all the TJX businesses, and it's why 1% of the same-store sales gains came from foreign currency gains.
Conventional wisdom says that cold, inclement weather held back sales performances across the U.S., and TJX did see sales below plan in the Midwest at its Marmaxx business. However, sales were on plan in the Northeast, which also saw its share of below-freezing days and snow in February.
Only one of TJX's competitors had materially better results. Ross Stores (Nasdaq: ROST ) and Stein Mart (Nasdaq: SMRT ) saw same-store sales increase 1% and decline 1.9%, respectively. Meanwhile, Federated Department Stores (NYSE: FD ) -- not a direct competitor, but a good yardstick to use when looking at TJX -- saw same-store sales increase 1.2%. Only Kohl's (NYSE: KSS ) , which admittedly goes about retailing with a slightly different strategy than TJX, saw its same-store sales increase; they were up 4.4%, easily besting TJX.
TJX expects March to be a better month, and that's important, because March has three additional selling days and sales are generally stronger leading up to the Easter holiday. Of course, this is true of every year, but the fact that TJX is optimistic about March is a good sign given that it's a more important month. TJX still has the credit card data snafu hanging over its head, but if the recent market volatility picks up again, there might just be a good chance to pick up a retailer that, overall, is executing its plan pretty well.
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At the time of publication, Nathan Parmelee had no financial interest in any of the companies mentioned. The Motley Fool has an ironclad disclosure policy.
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