There have always been a lot of assumptions about TJ Maxx and what makes it successful. The most traditional was that in a down economy, customers look for the best deal. But truth be told, TJ Maxx has done well in good economies as well as bad. So what’s its secret?

My friend Walter Loeb just wrote a piece for Forbes detailing five secrets to TJX’s success. The title of the piece is “How Broken Is Retail? Not Much If You Look At TJX ” I encourage you all the read it in full, but I’ll give you a quick abstract here.

First, we’ll start at the conclusion, which also might surprise you. The TJX companies (TJ Maxx, Home Goods and Marshalls) achieve a higher sales volume than Macy’s or JC Penney and Nordstrom COMBINED. Its market value is 7x greater than Macy’s. Oh, and to put another dagger in the “the store is dead ” fantasy, TJX plans to open 250 stores this year, as part of its goal to reach 5,600 stores. What apocalypse?

Now, let’s go back to the beginning, and the secrets to that success. I’m going to lead with what I think is a staggering figure.

According to Walter, Macy’s and Bloomingdales combined employ about 180-200 buyers. TJX? Around 1,000. So while the shopper may think she’s on a treasure hunt, in fact it’s the buyers who have done the treasure hunting for her! Walter also highlights the importance TJX places on Merchant talent. Mind you, I do believe Macy’s values Merchant talent as well. After all, the Lundgren Retail Center at Arizona State University is trying to churn them out on an annual basis. But in practice, I’ve watched Macy’s narrow its staff over the past decade under the banner of regionalizing buying offices and localizing assortments. I haven’t seen a lot of solid fruits of those labors. In fact, the Macy’s stores I’ve gone to over the past years (Aventura and Lincoln Road Mall) seem somewhat out of synch with local tastes. Maybe the answer is as simple as not having enough people to have their fingers on the pulse of shopper taste.

On the flip side, the TJX organization is much flatter and leaner at the top than Macy’s. TJX has a CEO and 4 SVPs (including the CFO). Macy’s lists 10 C-level positions including CEO and CFO.

Next, TJX is fast. I did not know it had the motto “door to floor in 24. ” The company gets product out faster, and it gets it sold faster, with turns that sound almost grocery-like – an average of 25 days (or 12+ turns per year) vs. the more traditional Macy’s , which apparently comes in at 3+ turns. That’s where the customer side of the treasure hunt comes in.

Now there’s no denying that Macy’s and TJX have different value propositions. Service expectations differ, price points vary greatly, and pricing models are significantly different. Off-price is very different from “heavily promotional. ” At this point, after 20 years, we can safely say that off-price wins the day.

Think about it… in 2006, TJX had, what was at the time, the worst data breach in history. It cost a good man his job, but sales, profits and traffic didn’t even dip. In fact, they continued to rise. In other words, the appeal of the chain was bigger than the fear generated by the breach. Consumers just trusted it would be dealt with correctly.

Lately I’ve found myself pondering trust as an important currency in retail. Amazon’s goal is to create complete trust that they have the least expensive product and the fastest delivery. Whole Foods Market had consumer trust that they were buying the highest quality grocery products available. Part of Amazon’s job in resurrecting the Whole Foods brand is re-establishing that trust – through lowering prices while continuing to source the best products.

TJX has gained consumer trust in many ways. Consumers trust they will get a great deal on fashionable merchandise and that what they find there will be interesting.

This leaves me with a few takeaways:

• Never forget the importance of MERCHANTS (yes, I’ve said this before)
• SPEED is an important commodity in the 21^st century. Bring products to market faster, and get them turned over equally fast. You don’t have to be “fast fashion ” to be fast. You just have to be committed to speed.
• Build TRUST. Not every retailer will build trust in the same way, but it’s real currency in the world of retail today. Ask yourself “How have I established trust with my customers? ” “What can I do to raise the level of trust from where it is today? “
• Stay NIMBLE. The more top-heavy your organization, the less nimble you will be.

Finally, be sure to read Walter’s article. At an age when most folks have “hung ‘em up, ” the man continues to teach me things. If he can keep learning so can we. It’s frankly a continuous source of inspiration to me. We don’t have to get stale.

Neither does retail. I hereby declare the “Retail Apocalypse ” dead. Now it’s up to us to move forward as an industry.