T.J.Maxx, Marshalls Pair up to "Intervene" on Shoppers' Poor Spending Habits

Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 5/18/2009 12:00:00 AM

Framingham, Mass. —

Claiming to have saved consumers more than $1 billion since January, sister off-price retailers T.J. Maxx and Marshall's are embarking on national campaign to "educate consumers on the off-price category and this better way to shop," the companies said in a statement.

"We want consumers to join us in taking a stand against all those tricky games retailers are playing with coupons, specials and one-time offers. We want to let everyone who doesn't understand our concept to know that it's not too good to be true," said Laura McDowell, spokesperson for T.J. Maxx and Marshall's.

Dubbed the National Spending Intervention Integrated program, the campaign launches with joint advertising. For the first time ever, T.J. Maxx and Marshall's will be presented together in television commercials, which will feature a group of girlfriends staging an intervention on another friend who spends too much on her fashion buys.

To support the advertising, the campaign will also include "a guerilla marketing" nine-city tour featuring live street theatre performing spending interventions. The cities on this tour are: New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Atlanta, San Francisco and Miami.

T.J. Maxx operates more than 875 stores nationwide. Marshall's is an 800-plus unit chain present in 42 states and Puerto Rico.