At 2003’s year-end, The TJX Companies, Inc. operated eight businesses - T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, A.J.Wright, and Bob’s Stores in the United States, Winners and HomeSense in Canada, and T.K. Maxx in Europe. Our target customer is a middle to upper-middle income shopper, who is fashion and value conscious and fits the same profile as a department store shopper. This is true of all of our concepts, with the exception of A.J.Wright, which reaches into a more moderate-income market, and Bob’s Stores, which has a largely male customer base and a target customer who spans the moderate to upper-middle income range. Our off-price mission is to deliver a rapidly changing assortment of quality, brand name merchandise at prices that are 20-60% less than department and specialty store regular prices, every day.

T.J. Maxx was founded in 1976 and is the largest off-price retailer of apparel and home fashions in the United States, operating 745 stores in 47 states at the end of 2003. With stores averaging 30,000 square feet, T.J. Maxx sells brand name family apparel, accessories, home fashions, women’s shoes, lingerie and fine jewelry.

Marshalls was acquired by TJX in 1995 and is the nation’s second largest off-price retailer, operating 673 stores in 42 states and Puerto Rico at 2003’s year-end. With a product assortment very similar to T.J. Maxx, Marshalls offers a full line of family footwear and a broader men’s department. An average Marshalls store is 31,000 square feet.

Winners was acquired by TJX as a five-store chain in 1990 and has grown into the leading off-price retailer in Canada with 160 stores at 2003’s year-end. Winners stores average approximately 28,000 square feet and feature off-price designer and brand name women’s apparel and shoes, fine jewelry, children’s apparel, lingerie, accessories, home fashions and menswear.

T.K. Maxx was launched in 1994, introducing the off-price concept to the United Kingdom. Today, T.K. Maxx is the leading off-price retailer in the U.K. and Ireland. T.K. Maxx offers great values on family apparel, women’s shoes, fine jewelry, lingerie, accessories and home fashions. The average size of a T.K. Maxx store is 27,000 square feet. T.K. Maxx ended 2003 with 147 stores.

HomeGoods was introduced in 1992 to expand TJX’s presence in the growing home fashions market. HomeGoods offers a broad array of giftware, accent furniture, lamps, rugs, accessories and seasonal merchandise. This chain operates in a stand-alone and superstore format. The superstores couple HomeGoods with T.J. Maxx or Marshalls and are called T.J. Maxx ’N More and Marshalls Mega-Stores. Stand-alone HomeGoods stores average approximately 28,000 square feet. At 2003’s year-end, HomeGoods operated 182 stores.

A.J. Wright operates similarly to our other concepts, but targets the moderate-income customer. A.J.Wright offers family apparel and footwear, accessories, home fashions, lingerie and costume jewelry. This business was launched in 1998 and has grown rapidly to end the year 2003 with 99 stores. A.J.Wright stores average 26,000 square feet.

HomeSense, launched in 2001, introduced the home fashions off-price concept to Canada. Similar to the HomeGoods concept, HomeSense offers customers a wide selection of cookware, linens, rugs, accent furniture and seasonal items. At 2003’s year-end, HomeSense operated 25 stores. Stand-alone HomeSense stores average 25,000 square feet.

Bob’s Stores was acquired by TJX as a 31-store, value-oriented retail chain in December 2003. Bob’s Stores offers branded apparel and footwear, with an extensive assortment of casual clothing for the family that emphasizes menswear, including activewear and workwear. Customer service and offering customers a fun and easy shopping experience are important aspects of the Bob’s Stores concept. At the Bob’s Stores division, stores average 46,000 square feet in size.