Where is Beacon Hill?

Putting 4,400 people out of work, not because they're losing money but because they're not making enough? Does that even make sense?

That's more than the number that would be employed in Beacon Hill's "Destination Resort Slot Barn" proposal.

How about some intervention here?


TJX to shut A.J. Wright chain and trim about 4,400 jobs

FRAMINGHAM — The TJX Companies Inc. is closing its A.J. Wright chain early next year in a move that will trim about 4,400 positions from the discount giant’s payroll.

TJX plans to convert 91 A.J. Wright stores into T.J. Maxx, Marshalls or HomeGoods stores. The Framingham-based company will close the remaining 71 stores.

The 12-year-old A.J. Wright chain is profitable – the division’s estimated, after-tax profit for the year is $10 million – but apparently not profitable enough for the executives at TJX. They say that they believe the converted stores will be more profitable and that many of A.J. Wright’s target customers are already choosing to shop at TJX’s other discount brands.

The stores that will close for good include 10 in Massachusetts, including the A.J. Wright store in Quincy. The other Bay State stores to be closed are located in Fitchburg, Malden, Medford, Methuen, New Bedford, Somerville, Springfield, Waltham and Worcester.

TJX is also shutting down two distribution centers in Fall River and in South Bend, Ind., as well as the A.J. Wright corporate operations in Framingham and certain regional offices. TJX said it will try to offer jobs at other stores to many of the displaced store workers, and that about one-fourth of the displaced corporate employees will be offered positions within the company.

TJX will close all 162 A.J. Wright stores between late January and the middle of February. The conversion process for the 91 stores that TJX is keeping will take about eight weeks before they are reopened.

TJX plans to report $150 million to $170 million in onetime, after-tax costs to close the A.J. Wright business, and another $12 million to $15 million to convert the 91 stores that the company is keeping.

But the company said it expects an annual boost in profit of about $25 million to $30 million, after taxes, from the conversion of those stores, and a boost in traffic and growth opportunities for the company’s T.J. Maxx-Marshalls division.

TJX originally launched A.J. Wright in September 1998, with three stores in Brockton, Malden and Somerville.