UPDATE 2-TJX Cos profit beats; shares down on 2010 concerns

* Q3 EPS of 81 cents vs Street view of 80 cts

* Q3 same store-sales up 7 pct

* Sees Q4 same store sales up 5-7 pct, EPS 65-71 cts

* Shares down 3 percent in afternoon trade
(Recasts first sentence, adds details from conference call,
analyst notes, byline)

By Phil Wahba

NEW YORK, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Off-price retailer TJX Cos
Inc (TJX.N) reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on
Tuesday, but investors questioned whether the company could
hold on to shoppers once the economy improves, and its shares
fell 3 percent.

TJX buys excess merchandise at below-wholesales prices and
sells it at deep discounts, an approach that has drawn shoppers
seeking to spend less on discretionary items such as clothes
and home goods during the recession.

"Even when the recession ends, the importance of value to
the consumer will remain, which plays to our strengths," TJX
Chief Executive Carol Meyrowitz told analysts on a conference
call. "This is the first time we are seeing an acceleration
during a recession."

TJX said sales at stores open for at least a year had
gotten off to a fast start in November and estimated they would
rise between 3 and 5 percent in both December and January.

But analysts noted that other retailers were starting to
catch up, slashing inventory to be more in line with demand,
meaning TJX would not likely enjoy the same high margins or the
ability to discount as deeply.

"Our concern for TJX is the stellar results of 2009 may not
be carried into 2010," Jefferies & Co analyst Randal Konik said
in a note. "If momentum does slow, the stock will likely have a
difficult time outperforming peers and reaching new 'all-time'
highs."

Shares were down 3 percent at $38.35 in afternoon trade.

ADVERTISING BOOST

Meyrowitz said the company had boosted its planned
advertising for the holiday season, with a big push in
television advertising starting this month.

The owner of the T.J. Maxx and Marshalls chains said profit
rose to $347.8 million, or 81 cents a share, in the third
quarter ended Oct. 31, from $235.8 million or 54 cents a share
a year earlier.

TJX reported overall sales rose 10.1 percent to $5.24
billion in the third quarter. It also reported same-store
sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, were up 7
percent during the quarter.

Analysts on average forecast a profit of 80 cents per
share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, and sales of $5.25
billion during the quarter.

TJX said last week that sales at stores open at least a
year in October had risen 10 percent and forecast that
same-store sales in the fourth quarter would rise between 5 and
7 percent.

Its outlook for the fourth quarter is for profit from
continuing operations of 65 to 71 cents per share.
(Additional reporting by Ben Klayman, editing by Michele
Gershberg, Dave Zimmerman and Matthew Lewis)