Target to close 11 stores before year end

Predicting the demise of Sears & Kmart since 2017!
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Target to close 11 stores before year end

Post by architect »

Over at The Break Room, a Target employee has posted that the company will be closing 11 stores this year, to be announced soon. One store which for sure made the list is their location in Jennings, MO, which is adjacent to Ferguson and served as a police command center during the 2014 protests. Honestly, it is not surprising that this store is closing, as the area is in clear decline and the only reason for the store's opening was a TIF which essentially paid Target to keep the store open. It will be interesting to see what other stores make the list.
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Re: Target to close 11 stores before year end

Post by BatteryMill »

Another one? How could this be happening. Might as well not be any stores that are interesting and unique...
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Re: Target to close 11 stores before year end

Post by architect »

BatteryMill wrote:Another one? How could this be happening. Might as well not be any stores that are interesting and unique...
Two more confirmed stores to add to the list:

In Oklahoma City, Target is closing its store at 800 SW 44th St. This store was originally constructed in 1972, and is located in an aging area of the city. In addition, Oklahoma City as a whole has been heavily affected by the downturn in the oil/gas industry. Honestly, it isn't surprising that this store is closing; however, it is sad as this closing leaves no Target in the immediate area.

In San Antonio, the Target at IH 10 W, San Antonio, TX 78230 has permanently closed following major damage from a hailstorm in April. However, media reports have stated that poor performance was also a factor in the decision to close rather than repair the store. Even in the months prior to it's closure, it had still not received a PFresh renovation (the only San Antonio store to have not done so). In addition, there are numerous other newer/larger Target stores in the area, making this location somewhat redundant.
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Re: Target to close 11 stores before year end

Post by storewanderer »

I expect we will see Target exit a lot of smaller medium sized markets in the central US. They seem to be out of touch with those markets. My observation is Target just doesn't do real well in rural medium sized markets. I think the poor hardlines mix is the culprit. Target strikes me as the ideal store for an apartment dweller who doesn't ever fix anything around their house or car which a lot of people in rural medium sized markets do (and Wal Mart excels in these categories; so does Meijer and so does Fred Meyer though Fred Meyer pricing is very high, somewhat eased if you use the always issued 10-20% off coupons). You can barely find a hammer in Target let alone a bag of potting soil or an oil filter... I went looking for some caulk to re-caulk the edges of my shower and a little metal thing to push the caulk in and while Target had the caulk they did not have the proper metal piece (they did have one, it was about 3 times as wide as what I needed and cost over $5); Wal Mart had the small metal thing I needed at under $2 and the caulk was a little bit cheaper (about 20 cents cheaper) but they had a much wider selection of caulk. Frankly, Target is almost so bad on hardlines that they aren't any more useful than a Family Dollar or Dollar General would be.

I have been pretty impressed by the hardlines area of Wal Mart in terms of both mix and pricing. For basic household tasks and basic repairs they have what you need at a good price, open 24 hours for convenient access. I have saved a lot of money on these items at Wal Mart vs. Home Depot. Maybe the quality isn't as good but I am not using the items day in and day out so I do not notice.

Actually might be some good expansion opportunities for Meijer if they would take the bait...
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Re: Target to close 11 stores before year end

Post by Super S »

storewanderer wrote:I expect we will see Target exit a lot of smaller medium sized markets in the central US. They seem to be out of touch with those markets. My observation is Target just doesn't do real well in rural medium sized markets. I think the poor hardlines mix is the culprit. Target strikes me as the ideal store for an apartment dweller who doesn't ever fix anything around their house or car which a lot of people in rural medium sized markets do (and Wal Mart excels in these categories; so does Meijer and so does Fred Meyer though Fred Meyer pricing is very high, somewhat eased if you use the always issued 10-20% off coupons). You can barely find a hammer in Target let alone a bag of potting soil or an oil filter... I went looking for some caulk to re-caulk the edges of my shower and a little metal thing to push the caulk in and while Target had the caulk they did not have the proper metal piece (they did have one, it was about 3 times as wide as what I needed and cost over $5); Wal Mart had the small metal thing I needed at under $2 and the caulk was a little bit cheaper (about 20 cents cheaper) but they had a much wider selection of caulk. Frankly, Target is almost so bad on hardlines that they aren't any more useful than a Family Dollar or Dollar General would be.

I have been pretty impressed by the hardlines area of Wal Mart in terms of both mix and pricing. For basic household tasks and basic repairs they have what you need at a good price, open 24 hours for convenient access. I have saved a lot of money on these items at Wal Mart vs. Home Depot. Maybe the quality isn't as good but I am not using the items day in and day out so I do not notice.

Actually might be some good expansion opportunities for Meijer if they would take the bait...
I believe this could potentially affect other stores, such as Kelso, WA. Longview-Kelso is largely a "working class" town where the economy has continued to struggle, and since Target opened, two Walmarts have opened. The Kelso store gives mixed signals as to how well it's doing. They recently replaced the restaurant with a Starbucks, repainted the exterior, and just recently rebranded the pharmacy as CVS. However, this location has not received a Pfresh remodel and still retains the older, four tube fluorescent fixtures with the silver reflectors instead of the two tube ones with the white reflectors that have been installed in pretty much every other Target in the area. The store never seems very busy either. The store was last remodeled over ten years ago.

Target's hardlines mix has always been mediocre at best. They are a joke in automotive and hardware..I sometimes wonder why they even have those departments. Stuff like electronics, small appliances, sporting goods, furniture is hit or miss. Target in my opinion is not any better than Walmart when it comes to staffing and number of checkouts open. Many times they are worse, and this is not a good thing when a store tries to convey a more "upscale" image especially when prices are higher than Walmart.
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Re: Target to close 11 stores before year end

Post by BillyGr »

Super S wrote:
Target's hardlines mix has always been mediocre at best. They are a joke in automotive and hardware..I sometimes wonder why they even have those departments. Stuff like electronics, small appliances, sporting goods, furniture is hit or miss. Target in my opinion is not any better than Walmart when it comes to staffing and number of checkouts open. Many times they are worse, and this is not a good thing when a store tries to convey a more "upscale" image especially when prices are higher than Walmart.
It seems like in some of those categories they try to just carry a small assortment of things that people might think to pick up or will remember they need while they are already in the store shopping, rather than trying to be a spot for people to think of when they need those categories?
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Re: Target to close 11 stores before year end

Post by architect »

Super S wrote:
storewanderer wrote:I expect we will see Target exit a lot of smaller medium sized markets in the central US. They seem to be out of touch with those markets. My observation is Target just doesn't do real well in rural medium sized markets. I think the poor hardlines mix is the culprit. Target strikes me as the ideal store for an apartment dweller who doesn't ever fix anything around their house or car which a lot of people in rural medium sized markets do (and Wal Mart excels in these categories; so does Meijer and so does Fred Meyer though Fred Meyer pricing is very high, somewhat eased if you use the always issued 10-20% off coupons). You can barely find a hammer in Target let alone a bag of potting soil or an oil filter... I went looking for some caulk to re-caulk the edges of my shower and a little metal thing to push the caulk in and while Target had the caulk they did not have the proper metal piece (they did have one, it was about 3 times as wide as what I needed and cost over $5); Wal Mart had the small metal thing I needed at under $2 and the caulk was a little bit cheaper (about 20 cents cheaper) but they had a much wider selection of caulk. Frankly, Target is almost so bad on hardlines that they aren't any more useful than a Family Dollar or Dollar General would be.

I have been pretty impressed by the hardlines area of Wal Mart in terms of both mix and pricing. For basic household tasks and basic repairs they have what you need at a good price, open 24 hours for convenient access. I have saved a lot of money on these items at Wal Mart vs. Home Depot. Maybe the quality isn't as good but I am not using the items day in and day out so I do not notice.

Actually might be some good expansion opportunities for Meijer if they would take the bait...
I believe this could potentially affect other stores, such as Kelso, WA. Longview-Kelso is largely a "working class" town where the economy has continued to struggle, and since Target opened, two Walmarts have opened. The Kelso store gives mixed signals as to how well it's doing. They recently replaced the restaurant with a Starbucks, repainted the exterior, and just recently rebranded the pharmacy as CVS. However, this location has not received a Pfresh remodel and still retains the older, four tube fluorescent fixtures with the silver reflectors instead of the two tube ones with the white reflectors that have been installed in pretty much every other Target in the area. The store never seems very busy either. The store was last remodeled over ten years ago.

Target's hardlines mix has always been mediocre at best. They are a joke in automotive and hardware..I sometimes wonder why they even have those departments. Stuff like electronics, small appliances, sporting goods, furniture is hit or miss. Target in my opinion is not any better than Walmart when it comes to staffing and number of checkouts open. Many times they are worse, and this is not a good thing when a store tries to convey a more "upscale" image especially when prices are higher than Walmart.
I definitely agree with both of these posts, and Target's store closing activity over the last few years seems to back up this fact. Target isn't afraid to abandon smaller markets in cases where the economy has stagnated or demographics simply do not work in their favor. This seems especially common in many small Midwestern towns, where Target built a ton of stores during their 90's growth phase which have since fallen by the wayside and are not contributing to overall sales.
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Re: Target to close 11 stores before year end

Post by wnetmacman »

architect wrote: I definitely agree with both of these posts, and Target's store closing activity over the last few years seems to back up this fact. Target isn't afraid to abandon smaller markets in cases where the economy has stagnated or demographics simply do not work in their favor. This seems especially common in many small Midwestern towns, where Target built a ton of stores during their 90's growth phase which have since fallen by the wayside and are not contributing to overall sales.
I would definitely agree with this. And it wasn't just stores they built in the 90's. In several places in Illinois and Indiana where the stores were acquired from Ayr-Way, any market under 70,000 was just completely abandoned. Two stores in particular that I know this happened to were Danville, IL and Crawfordsville, IN. The Danville store had been standing since the early 70's at a minimum, and was converted to Target during that acquisition in 1981. Target just abruptly closed the store.

Target is all about being the hip, the cool thing. They do not function well in lower-class areas.
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Re: Target to close 11 stores before year end

Post by architect »

wnetmacman wrote:
architect wrote: I definitely agree with both of these posts, and Target's store closing activity over the last few years seems to back up this fact. Target isn't afraid to abandon smaller markets in cases where the economy has stagnated or demographics simply do not work in their favor. This seems especially common in many small Midwestern towns, where Target built a ton of stores during their 90's growth phase which have since fallen by the wayside and are not contributing to overall sales.
I would definitely agree with this. And it wasn't just stores they built in the 90's. In several places in Illinois and Indiana where the stores were acquired from Ayr-Way, any market under 70,000 was just completely abandoned. Two stores in particular that I know this happened to were Danville, IL and Crawfordsville, IN. The Danville store had been standing since the early 70's at a minimum, and was converted to Target during that acquisition in 1981. Target just abruptly closed the store.

Target is all about being the hip, the cool thing. They do not function well in lower-class areas.
Target's image really has evolved since their early days as a retailer, and a result, their image is far more upscale and hip than it once was. As a result, they have been forced to leave markets which are unable to support their new demographics, as you stated well. One store which will be interesting to follow is the Lufkin, TX location, as this store is an early 90's small prototype which has not seen a renovation since opening, and is in a largely stagnant market. However, if this store was to close, the closest locations would be in either Tyler, Huntsville or the Humble/Kingwood area, all of which are well over an hour away.
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Re: Target to close 11 stores before year end

Post by mbz321 »

storewanderer wrote:I expect we will see Target exit a lot of smaller medium sized markets in the central US. They seem to be out of touch with those markets. My observation is Target just doesn't do real well in rural medium sized markets. I think the poor hardlines mix is the culprit. Target strikes me as the ideal store for an apartment dweller who doesn't ever fix anything around their house or car which a lot of people in rural medium sized markets do.
You pretty much summed it perfectly here, and I think even their 'big-box' model in suburban areas is slowly faltering. As far as I know, Target is only opening one new 'regular sized' store this year (2016) in the Allentown/Lower Macungie, PA area (in a big-box center with another anchor store that is sort of hurting them right now...Costco). This indicates to me that they are in trouble. They expanded like crazy trying to fit into areas where they don't belong and many of their locations that have closed in the past couple years have been newer stores in bad areas. Why were these built in the first place?? With no real development with the 'SuperTarget' format, I can't see them continuing with it in the long-term. Now CityTarget seems to be a great concept and would work great in places like NYC and elsewhere where most people seem to do their 'convenience' shopping at drugstores, so hopefully they start rolling that out a bit more. But overall as a guy, their merchandising mix is absolute crap. I rarely go to Target because I know I won't be able to get 1/2 the stuff on my list. I've only been stopping in more frequently as they finally put in Self Checkouts and I don't have to wait in line 10 minutes to buy the two items I actually did find.
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