Nearly six weeks after Hurricane Irma hit Puerto Rico and devastated the island, the owners of the bargain stores T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods are being praised for their generosity. The Boston Globe reports the owners of the big-box stores are still paying their employee in Puerto Rico, despite the stores being closed as residents of the island continue the arduous process of getting back on their feet.
“We believe it is the right thing for us to do under these circumstances,” TJX spokeswoman Erika Tower said. A user on the Boston based Facebook group #PuertoRicoStrong shared a post by woman named Iván Meléndez who praised the company for continuing to pay her son after the Category 4 storm hit the island.
“Thank you to all Marshalls stores for such an honorable gesture,” Meléndez wrote in Spanish. The post has since been shared more than 41,000 times. Melendez added the company has also supplied its employees with food and water.
Tower would not comment on how many stores on the island are closed or how many people are TJX employees in, but according to the spokeswoman, this act of kindness isn’t a first.
“From time to time under extreme circumstances,” Tower said.
Well done, TJX. Well done.