TJX

TJX

No. 47

Industry: Apparel Retail
Sales: $19 billion
Net Income: $915 million

Only a few lucky retailers are growing amid the recession, and TJX (TJX) is one of them. The parent company of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods is benefiting from shoppers' new price-consciousness. TJX boosted earnings by nearly 17% in 2008, to $914.9 million. CEO Carol Meyrowitz is known for paying vendors within about 30 days, in contrast to the typical 60- to 90-day pay period for department stores. As a result, vendors were more willing to sell their fashions to TJX than to department stores when the credit crunch hit. But the Framingham (Mass.) discount retailer has seen its sales slow, and Meyrowitz anticipates 2009 will be a tough year. She plans to trim $150 million in costs by freezing headcount, eliminating most merit pay increases, and restructuring certain areas of the company to improve efficiency.