The TJX Companies, Inc. on Wednesday announced that its board of directors had created a CEO succession plan, with Ernie Herrman to be named chief executive officer, and current chairman and CEO Carol Meyrowitz becoming executive chairman of the board.
Herrman’s appointment will come into effect at the beginning of the company’s next fiscal year, on January 31, 2016, and he will retain his title as president. He was also elected a director of the company, effective immediately.
Herrman has been president of TJX since January 2011 and has been with the company since 1989. Prior to this role, he was senior executive vice president, group president with responsibility for The Marmaxx Group, the company’s largest division, HomeGoods and TJX Canada. He also held various senior merchandising positions with TJX.
Meyrowitz, who led TJX over the past nine years as CEO, said, “Ernie Herrman’s proven, successful track record, leadership abilities, strategic vision, discipline and focus are all qualities that make him absolutely the right choice for CEO. Ernie has decades of experience as an off-price merchant. He has been instrumental to our company’s success, including our continued international growth with our expansion into continental Europe, bringing Marshalls to Canada, and intent to acquire Trade Secret in Australia, in addition to developing our deep bench of off-price leaders and senior management.”
She added, “He will be a tremendous leader as we continue to drive the profitable growth of this company in the near and long term.”
Herrman said, “I am convinced that we are in an excellent position to grow to be a $40 billion company and beyond. The succession plan that the board has established gives me great confidence that we will have a seamless transition.”