The TJX Companies, Inc. is the leading off-price retailer of apparel and home fashions in the United States and worldwide and ranked 132 in the most recent Fortune 500 rankings. With nearly $19 billion in revenues in 2007, more than 2,500 stores and almost 130,000 Associates, 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. TJX's off-price concepts include T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, and A.J. Wright in the U.S., Winners and HomeSense in Canada, and T.K. Maxx and HomeSense in Europe.

      The TJX Companies has become synonymous with value. The exciting treasure-hunt experience of shopping for our great off-price fashions, whether apparel or home at excellent values, attracts a passionate and loyal customer base. Our target customer includes the middle- to upper-middle-income shopper, who is fashion and value conscious and fits the same profile as a department or specialty store shopper. A.J. Wright is oriented to the more moderate-income market.

      Our vision of TJX is as a global, off-price, value Company. We remain focused on driving profitable sales through sharp execution of the fundamentals of our off-price business model. TJX has one of the most flexible business models in the world, which has stood the test of time. In 31 years of operation, consolidated comparable store sales have declined modestly in only one year and have increased even during recessions. Our strong operating performance in 2007 is a great example of our business model in action, and how we can perform in challenging retail environments.

      Our history shows that our value concept plays well in many geographies and categories. Our financial strength gives us great confidence and provides an extremely strong foundation upon which to grow in the future. We see the potential for growing our current concepts to approximately 4,300 stores over time in our current markets and we see even more opportunities to bring our retail concepts into new countries in the longer term.

      We have a go-forward management team that combines fresh talent and perspectives with the best of TJX experience and a results-oriented, entrepreneurial organization. We are a Company with both extremely solid businesses that generate great cash flows as well as great growth potential. We will continue to focus on executing the fundamentals of our flexible off-price value model that have made this Company great in order to continue to grow and prosper.