In 1902, George Dayton bought out the company Goodfellows and renamed it to the “Dayton Dry Goods Company.” An employee named John. F. Geisse thought of the idea of an upscale discount-relating store. In 1962, the Dayton Company used Geisse’s idea and opened its first store in Minnesota called “Target,” currently owned by Target Corporation. With more than 1,750 stores across the country, Target has grown into a household staple brand. In fact, Target mega-brand is second only to Wal-Mart.
Early this year, Target Corporation announced that it would expand internationally into Canada. Target Corporation bought 220 leaseholds for Zeller from the Hudson’s Bay Company for $1.8billion. Currently, Target Corporation in Canada is just doing business as Zellers and will convert and rebrand about 150 stores by 2014. MSNBC reported that 70% of Canadians were aware of the Target brand, and, in fact, 10% of Canadians have shopped at their stores in the last year. Though many of the product line will change, Target Corporation will not compromise its fundamental principle of high-equality bargain buying.
Although it is still known as the "other" discount retailer, Target ranks higher than Wal-Mart when it comes to the happiness of its employees, according to CareerBliss.com. At the end of August, Target received the honor of the website's annual "Leap Awards" which highlights changes in workforce. Heidi Golledge, the site's chief executive, points out that Target surpassed more than 250,000 other companies for the coveted title, including big names such as Bank of America and Wal-Mart.
CareerBliss.com sets the criteria for the Leap Award, which includes, "work-life balance, one’s relationship with the boss and co-workers, the w...
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...high-quality discount empire.
Works Cited
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Target’s first foreign store investment was in Canada; American stores look to Canada as their first foreign investment because the differences between the two countries are relatively minor. Other stores that have expanded to Canada include Wal-Mart, and Sears, each of these companies proved to be prosperous in Canada. Canada is one of the wealthiest countries in the world and is dominated by the service industry, Wawa would have no trouble fitting into the culture Canada has and dominating the market as they do here, in the United States. After reading about Canada and Wawa, we have realized this move could only benefit Wawa and help their reputation and build their company.
For the most part, Target Corporation’s performance is positive and has been consistently growing in sales. The company has increased its stock value through additional sales resulting from a deliberate
As compared to its rivals, Target has presented its brand as a middle-class brand which assists in attracting customers that find other stores like Walmart unpleasant
Target, a high-end discount department store, hoped to continue expanding and adding to the company’s 1,752 stores, by purchasing 200 Zellers stores, located in Canada. One of Target’s, longtime goals was to expand into Canada , and after a decade, the company took a jump across the border (Shaw, 2011). Because many thousand Canadians hold a Red Card, Target’s reward card, Target assumed this would be a successful expansion, increasing the amount of US brands that encompass Canada’s market. Target spent a year converting the Zeller stores, altering and renovating them to transform them into Target Canada, a subsidiary of Target (Shaw, 2011). They opened 124 stores in locations all over Canada, hiring back only one percent of the former Zellers employees, desiring to make a fresh start for the department store chain (Target Refused Zellers Workers).
Target is an Equal Opportunity Employer and shall not discriminate against any worker based on race, color, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, disability, political affiliation and national origin. Target will adhere to all laws relating to non-discrimination, wages, hours, working conditions, pension and welfare benefits plans, sexual harassment and other terms and conditions of employment. Discrimination is strictly prohibited.
Target, the nation's #2 discount chain, now operates more than 1,500 Target and Super Target stores in 47 states, as well as an online business called Target.com. Target and its larger grocery-carrying stores, Super Target, have carved out a niche by offering more upscale, fashion-forward merchandise than rivals Wal-Mart and Kmart. After years of struggling to turn around its Marshall Fields and Mervyns departments stores divisions, the discounter sold them both in 2004. Target also owns apparel supplier The Associated Merchandising Corp. and issues Target Visa and its proprietary Target Card (www.Answers.com/topic/target-corporation).
According to www.targetcorp.com, Target is an upscale discount retail chain that sells quality products at attractive prices, and prides itself on clean, spacious, and guest-friendly stores. Target is the second largest "general merchandise" retailer (behind Wal-Mart); selling almost anything one would need to complete the "one stop shop", especially with the addition of the SuperTarget stores. The first Target opened in Roseville, Minnesota in 1962. Since then, 1,330 stores located in forty-seven different states, which includes the 141 SuperTarget stores, have opened nationwide. Target also has twenty-two distribution centers located in nineteen states. In addition to the vast number of store locations, Target also has other businesses that include: Target.com, Target Financial Services, Associated Merchandising Corporation, and Target commercial Interiors. Through all the key businesses, Target employs nearly 300,000 people from diverse backgrounds. The current Chairman and CEO of Target is Bob Ulrich.
Nearly everyone is at least somewhat familiar with Target stores; the famous bullseye logo is identifiable all across the United States. With the motto "Expect More, Pay Less", the company suggests that customers can expect more of everything, at more reasonable prices.1 Target's commitment to the consumer, as well as it's employment consideration and management style led Fortune Magazine to name it as one of the Most Admired Companies in 2005.
According to Schafer (2013), Target Corporation desire is to improve Target Brand and be a better version of Target with an incremental products and services. Target Corporation acquisitions counter any threat from other rival online retailers and allow Target Corporation to cross promote between Target and the new entity strengthening its
Customers are appealed by Target’s consistent value of their products and customers. “With 1,793 stores in the U.S.”, Target assures that their layout, merchandise, visual merchandising, and service all contribute
In 2013, Target acquired 124 locations in Canada from a failing retailer called Zellers (Wahpa, 2015). Target began to experience major problems. The Zellers store locations were in awful locations, which was one of the reasons Zellers was failing. Target began to suffer from supply-chain problems that yielded empty shelves and high prices, and it added up to a downright disaster. According to Taylor & Ho (2013) Canadian shoppers were disappointed with prices above those it charges in the United States, and shoppers would rather go to Canadian Wal-Mart. Target began losing millions of dollars, CEO Gregg Steinhafe turned his attention away from Target Locations in the United States and focused his attention on the Target locations in Canada. A year after Target had begun operating in Canada they lost over one billion dollars (Taylor & Ho, 2013). In January of 2015, Target Canada was placed under bankruptcy protection, underscoring the severity of the mistake by one of the largest retailers in the
Target has many people spearheading the great retailer success, but the one of the most important people on that list would have to be President, chairman of the board, and chief executive officer Gregg W. Steinhafel. Steinhafel was named president of the...
Target Corporation is one of the largest discounted retail stores. Target offers everyday essentials, attires, food amongst other differentiated merchandise at everyday low prices. In addition, it offers in-store amenities, including Target Café, Target Photo, Target Optical, Portrait Studio, Starbucks, and other food service offerings. In 1902 Target (TGT) was founded and incorporated in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The purpose of this presentation is to provide a comparative analysis of business activities of two well-known representatives of the US retail industry, Target and Walmart. My research is focused on a business strategy of these largest and most experienced American merchandising companies; particularly, on their activities in Canada. Based on the data collected from the various sources, I would like to detect, analyze, and demonstrate the obvious causes that have lead to a catastrophic failure of Target in its unsuccessful attempt to win a Canadian market.
1. The Discount Department Store. Target prefers to be called as the latter instead of just department store. Expect more, pay less. With this tagline, the customers expect to purchase more items and pay the least amount possible. Not like other retail industries like its competitor Kmart and Wal-Mart, Target maintains retail value in terms of product offerings. They are known in their designer’s items in clothes, exclusive beauty products, categorized and functional goods, and seasonal offerings. It also sells the greatest number of gift cards among its rival business.