Yesterday T.J. Maxx announced that third-quarter earnings surged ahead 47% as the company attracted great-recession-weary shoppers to its stores. Oh, and there might have been a “hostage” situation in one of its Florida stores.
The MSNBC says that police are currently looking for two suspects that attempted to rob the T.J. Maxx in Venice, FL Tuesday night.
Details are sketchy and conflicting but according to some witnesses and news reports two gunmen in ski-masks stormed the store and there may have been some hostages taken. The suspects left before police arrived.
Police have not released descriptions of the suspects. A few of the people inside the store were hiding, but police would not say why it took so long for all of them to come out.
“I don’t know that information,” Hill told the HeraldTribune.com. “There could be a lot of reasons.”
After teenager Hayley Vanslow, one of the last “hostages,” ran from the store at around 1:30 a.m., Sarasota County Sheriff’s SWAT teams entered it and searched it but did not find the suspects. After sending in a police dog at 2:30 a.m., police cleared the scene.
We’re not entirely sure what “hostage” (in quotes) is supposed to imply. It seems this whole recession thing is a bit of a double edged sword for TJX.
Police seek T.J. Maxx robbery suspects [MSNBC]
TJX Profit Up 47% As Retailer Sees More Customers;View Raised [WSJ]
(Photo:MSNBC)
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Turns out it was just an over-zealous greeter that refused to let people leave without showing their receipt.
@RecordStoreToughGuy_IsBeing(pur)SuedByAMonster: Oh god, I laughed so hard at that!
“A few of the people inside the store were hiding, but police would not say why it took so long for all of them to come out.”
Well, duh, they were waiting out the competition so they could grab the last Betsey Johnson handbag.
@DangerMouth: i figure they were just waiting for the smell of the crackpipe to wane.
I think the “hostages” thing wasn’t meant to be snarky (could be wrong though). It is very difficult for two men to take hostage an entire store. The people weren’t really hostages, as the robbery attempt was short lived, and there wasn’t really a true hostage situation taking place.
But then again, law enforcement wasn’t 100% sure what the deal was until they could go in and investigate, and unitl the last person exited the store, they were considered a “hostage”. It’s like they were hostages, but weren’t hostages at the same time. Tough one to classify I guess.
@YOXIM: Exactly. It seems that the gunmen left before the hostages, at which point they were no longer technically hostages, but they couldn’t know that for sure.
@YOXIM: The “hostage” thing was not meant as snarky. All of the news stories I could find about the incident called it a hostage situation. If anyone is to blame, it is the person who first applied the label.
In other news, “commenters” will discuss this “event” ad nauseum. “News” at 11.
TJ Maxx: Where You Don’t Have to Pay a Ransom for Clothing Anymore*
*does not apply to Florida locations.
I think the guy I know who just got laid off from TJ Maxx is not going to be happy to hear this news.
@theblackdog_FeelingRandom: well, he may be half happy. unless of course he owns a Darth Vader mask.
Although I think it may have been Chad Vader
No mention of the darth vader masks? in at least two of the articles I saw they mention the darth vader masks.
I saw this on the “news”. Funny how all those “swat” cops couldn’t catch the criminals. The story right after was how these guys were beating up people on bikes… and there was video of it, yet nobody again was caught.
Come on America… buy guns and teach criminals not to F with you. It’s not going to work the other way around… them F’ing with you unarmed. And being a young girl/woman is no excuse. In fact you have more reason to protect yourself than a man. Germany found this out the hard way. And yes germans actually thought that getting rid of their guns would stop crime and make them safe… just before Hitler started rounding them up and killing them.
@pecan 3.14159265: or dermis envy
@pecan 3.14159265: Or tragic hip loss.
@gStein_is missing part of his hip:
Me too. And just got a Marshall’s gift card for my birthday this week. (My family knows me well.)
@SacraBos: Give mannequins a break. They’re probably just affected by Stiff Person Syndrome.
[en.wikipedia.org]