Target Corporation
Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retail corporation headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Target operates retail stores. It is the eighth-largest retailer in the United States and is a component of the S&P 500 Index.
The original Target retail store was co-founded by John Geisse and Douglas Dayton in 1962 for Dayton's in Roseville, Minnesota. Dayton's was renamed the Target Corporation in 2000. Target is notable for its focus on upscale, trend-forward merchandise at lower costs. Its stores typically sell general merchandise. Target's logo refers to the center of a shooting target, and its canine mascot is named Bullseye. The corporation also operates two criminal forensics laboratories.
, Target is ranked on the 2022 Fortune 500 list of the largest American corporations by total revenue., it operates more than 2,000 stores throughout the United States. Target has been consistently ranked as one of the most philanthropic companies in the U.S.
History
Target Corporation is an American retail chain that operates large discount stores.In 1962, John Geisse and Douglas Dayton founded and launched Target stores for the Dayton Company. The first Target store opened in May 1962 in Roseville, Minnesota, a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota. By the end of that year, there were four Target stores, located in Roseville, Crystal, Duluth, and St. Louis Park, Minnesota, respectively.
Dayton-Hudson Corporation announced in January 2000 a name change to Target Corporation.
Target is the seventh-largest retailer in the United States and is a component of the S&P 500 Index., Target is ranked on the 2022 Fortune 500 list of the largest American corporations by total revenue., Target operates nearly 2,000 stores in the United States.
Store formats
Target
Target properties are roughly and sell general merchandise, including hardlines and softlines. While many Target stores follow a standard big-box architectural style, the company has focused on "customizing each new store to ensure a locally relevant experience that best fit the surrounding neighborhood's needs" since August 2006. Initially, only SuperTarget locations operated Starbucks Coffee counters, although they were integrated into general-merchandise stores through their expanded partnership beginning in 2003. Many stores also feature Pizza Hut Express counters, along with Starbucks.Target introduced the "PFresh" store prototype in 2008, which expanded its grocery selection in general-merchandise locations by upwards of 200%. Newly constructed stores that follow the PFresh format are roughly larger than properties without groceries, although retain the Target branding because their offerings are considerably more limited than SuperTarget. PFresh sells perishable and frozen foods, baked goods, meat, and dairy. The company remodeled 109 stores accordingly in 2009, and renovated another 350 stores the following year. The company's decision to close their garden centers opened floor space for PFresh expansion and larger seasonal departments beginning in 2010.
CVS Health
On June 15, 2015, CVS Health announced an agreement with Target to acquire all of Target's pharmacies and clinic businesses for around $1.9 billion. The Target pharmacies were rebranded as CVS Health pharmacies, which totaled 1,672 pharmacies in February 2016. The Target clinics were also rebranded as MinuteClinic. The acquisition of the Target pharmacies enabled CVS to expand its market into Seattle, Denver, Portland, and Salt Lake City.SuperTarget
The first Target Greatland location opened in Apple Valley, Minnesota, in September 1990. They were about 50% larger than traditional Target stores, and pioneered company standards, including an increased number of checkout lanes and price scanners, larger aisles, expanded pharmacy and photography departments, and a food court. Target Greatland locations have since been converted to stores following the PFresh format beginning in 2009.The first SuperTarget hypermarket opened in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1995, and expanded upon the Target Greatland concept with the inclusion of a full grocery department. The company expanded their grocery assortment in 2003 and adopted the modified tagline "Eat Well. Pay Less." in 2004. In the early 2000s, 43 locations featured E-Trade trading stations, although they were all closed by June 2003 after E-Trade determined, "we were not able to make it into a profitable distribution channel."
When comparing SuperTargets with rival Walmart Supercenter hypermarkets, then-chief executive Gregg Steinhafel opined that Walmart operates like "a grocer that happens to also sell general merchandise," whereas the less aggressive expansion of SuperTarget stores reflects his view of Target's grocery effort as a "high-impact, low-cost" side project. The company operated 239 SuperTarget locations as of September 2015; they each encompass an estimate of.
In an article written in August 2015, Target was quoted as saying, "Big or small, our stores have one thing in common: they're all Target."
Small-format Target
While typical Target locations are about, most "small-format" CityTarget stores are roughly. The first stores were opened in July 2012, in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Seattle; the location in Boston is the largest CityTarget and opened in July 2015. TargetExpress stores range from ; the first opened in Dinkytown near the University of Minnesota in July 2014. Products in these flexible-format properties are typically sold in smaller packages geared towards customers using public transportation. Locations built in college communities often carry an extended home department of apartment and dormitory furnishings. In August 2015, Target announced that it would rename its nine CityTarget and five TargetExpress stores as Target beginning that October, deciding, "Big or small, our stores have one thing in common: they're all Target." The first small-format stores under the unified naming scheme opened later that month in Chicago, Rosslyn, San Diego, and San Francisco. The company opened a store in the Tribeca neighborhood of New York in October 2016. In that same month, three other similar-sized stores opened in Philadelphia; Cupertino, California; and the area around Pennsylvania State University. Target opened a store in Austin's Dobie Twenty21, adjacent to the UT-Austin campus.Nearly all of its planned openings through 2019 were small formats, which are less than. The goal of these smaller-format stores is to win over the business of millennial customers. The nearly 30 newer locations were to be situated in college towns or densely populated areas.
Brands and subsidiaries
As of 2018, Target has four subsidiaries: Target Brands, Inc., Target Capital Corporation, Target Enterprise, Inc., and Target General Merchandise, Inc.File:TargetCanada.JPG|thumb|right|220px|Cash registers inside the now-closed Target in Centerpoint Mall
Financial and Retail Services division
Financial and Retail Services, formerly Target Financial Services, originally issued Target's credit cards, known as the Target Circle Card, issued through Target National Bank for consumers and through Target Bank for businesses. FRS also oversees GiftCard balances. Target launched its PIN-x debit card, the Target Check Card, which was later rebranded as the Target Debit Card. The Target Debit Card withdraws funds from the customer's existing checking account, and allows for up to $40 "cash back". The debit card allows guests to save 5% off each purchase. In late 2017, Target replaced its REDcard slogan, "Save 5% Today, Tomorrow, & Everyday with Target REDcard", when it rolled out new benefits for REDcard holders by offering exclusive products on Target.com and preorders with "Everyday Savings. Exclusive Extras."In October 2012, Target enter into an agreement with TD Bank in which TD Bank would handle Target's Visa and private label REDcard accounts for Target for a seven year period. The agreement was finalized in March 2013. The credit card management agreement was extended in 2022 until 2030 in which TD Bank is the sole issuer of Target's credit cards.
Target RedCard was rebranded Circle Card in April 2024.
Target Sourcing Services
This global sourcing organization locates merchandise from around the world for Target and helps import the merchandise to the United States, including garments, furniture, bedding, and towels. Target Sourcing Services has 27 full-service offices, 48 quality-control offices, and seven concessionaires located throughout the world, and employs 1,200 people. Its engineers are responsible for evaluating the factories that do business with Target Corporation for quality, labor rights, and trans-shipment issues. It was acquired by Target Corporation in 1998, was founded in 1916 as the Associated Merchandising Corporation, and was previously owned by the clients it served. TSS ceased operations in its department-store group, the division of the former Associated Merchandising Corporation that acted as a buying office for Saks, Inc., Bloomingdale's, Stage Stores Inc., TJ Maxx, and Marshalls.Private-label brands
Target Brands is the company's brand-management division that oversees the company's private-label products.Bullseye, is Target's mascot.
- Good & Gather, a food and beverage brand, replaced Archer Farms and Simply Balanced.
- Market Pantry, value grocery products
- Dealworthy, a low-priced essentials brand
- Boots & Barkley, a pet food and supply line
- Embark, an outdoor gear line of camping and travel equipment
- Room Essentials, inexpensive, primarily flat-pack, furniture
- Brightroom, a line of storage solutions
- Threshold, a premium furniture line
- Wondershop, a Christmas decoration brand
- Hyde and Eek, a Halloween decoration brand
- up & up, offers essential commodities, including household, healthcare, beauty, baby, and personal-care products.
- Xhilaration, a line of intimate and sleepwear, along with swimwear.
- Pillowfort, a children's line of bedding and room decor
- Cat and Jack, a children's line of apparel and accessories
- Cloud Island, a baby's line of bedding and clothing
- Project 62, a household-goods line placed alongside Room Essentials
- Goodfellow & Co., a clothing and personal-care line for men, with the name being an homage to their beginnings as Goodfellow Dry Goods
- A New Day, a clothing line for women
- JoyLab, a fitness-clothing line for women
- Hearth and Hand, a home and lifestyle brand, in collaboration with designer Joanna Gaines
- Universal Thread, a denim lifestyle brand
- Opalhouse, eclectic home decor
- Heyday, a line of electronic accessories
- Original Use, male clothing brand targeting gen-Z and millennials
- Wild Fable, women's clothing brand targeting gen-Z
- Made By Design, a homelines brand, made up of home basics such as towels, cooking utensils, glassware, plates, pots, kitchen gadgets, and more
- Smartly, essential a commodity brand, including household, healthcare, beauty, and personal-care products
- Auden, an intimates and lingerie exclusive brand
- Stars Above, an in-house brand for sleepwear
- Colsie, an intimates and loungewear brand
On March 9, 2021, Target announced a new brand called Favorite Day, a brand that sells bakery, snacks, candy, premium ice cream, cake-decorating supplies, and beverage mixers and mocktails items. It launched on April 5, 2021.
Former brands include:
- Cherokee, children's and women's clothing: On September 10, 2015, Target stores announced it would cease carrying the brand when its partnership with Cherokee Inc. expired on January 31, 2017. It was replaced by Cat & Jack.
- Circo, toddler's and kids clothing: The brand was replaced by Cat & Jack, along with Pillowfort
- Merona, a clothing brand purchased by Target in 1991
- Mossimo Supply Co., a clothing line, in partnership with the brand owner Iconix Brand Group
- Gilligan & O'Malley product lines of intimates and sleepwear were discontinued after the release of the brands Auden, Stars Above, and Colsie.