The TJX Companies, Inc. Announces 29% Increase in Common Stock Dividend.

Business Editors

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 7, 2004

The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX), the leading off-price retailer of apparel and home fashions in the U.S. and worldwide, today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a regular quarterly dividend

Edmond English, President and Chief Executive Officer of The TJX Companies, Inc., stated, "I am pleased that our Board of Directors has voted this 29% increase in our dividend to shareholders, which reflects our confidence in TJX's abilities to continue to produce top- and bottom-line growth and marks the eighth consecutive year that we have raised the dividend. Having posted a 19% increase in earnings per share in fiscal 2004, we are expecting continued growth in fiscal 2005 and beyond. Our plans call for the addition of over 180 stores across all of our divisions in fiscal 2005. Further, we are rolling out several exciting initiatives, which include expanding our fine jewelry and accessories departments at T.J. Maxx and our family footwear selections at Marshalls. Also, we plan to launch e-commerce websites for T.J. Maxx and HomeGoods in the third quarter. We have excellent growth potential within our more established businesses as well as our younger concepts and are confident in our ability to grow our Company to over 4,400 stores worldwide over the longer term from our current portfolio of businesses."

The TJX Companies, Inc. is the leading off-price retailer of apparel and home fashions in the U.S. and worldwide. The Company operates 745 T.J. Maxx stores, 673 Marshalls, 183 HomeGoods and 99 A.J. Wright, as well as 31 Bob's stores in the United States. In Canada, the Company operates 160 Winners and 25 HomeSense stores, and in Europe, 147 T.K. Maxx stores. TJX's press releases and financial information are also available on the Internet at www.tjx.com.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENTS UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995: Various statements made in this release are forward-looking and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. All statements that address activities, events or developments that we intend, expect or believe may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. The following are some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements: our ability to continue successful expansion of our store base; risks of expansion; our ability to successfully implement our opportunistic inventory strategies and to effectively manage our inventories; consumer confidence, demand, spending habits and buying preferences; effects of unseasonable weather; competitive factors; factors affecting availability of store and distribution center locations on suitable terms; factors affecting our recruitment and employment of associates; factors affecting expenses; success of our acquisition and divestiture activities; our ability to successfully implement technologies and systems; our ability to continue to generate adequate cash flows; general economic conditions; potential disruptions due to wars, natural disasters and other events beyond our control; changes in currency and exchange rates; import risks; adverse outcomes for any significant litigation; changes in laws and regulations and accounting rules and principles; and other factors that may be described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We do not undertake to publicly update or revise our forward-looking statements even if experience or future changes make it clear that any projected results expressed or implied in such statements will not be realized.