Target to close 11 stores before year end

Predicting the demise of Sears & Kmart since 2017!
Post Reply
Brian Lutz
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1425
Joined: March 1st, 2009, 5:51 pm
Location: Piedmont Triad, NC
Been thanked: 56 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Target to close 11 stores before year end

Post by Brian Lutz »

Target does have some advantages in more urban areas as they don't seem to suffer from the knee-jerk NIMBYism that tends to lead urban politicians to ferociously oppose any attempts by Walmart to enter their markets. For example, there are no Walmart stores in the Seattle city limits, and only one Sam's Club store. Given the politicians we have around here, if they could get away with a law explicitly banning Walmart from the city they probably would. The downtown Seattle Target store (they appear to have eliiminated the City Target branding altogether) is actually relatively decent in spite of its small size and relatively high prices (although everything in Downtown is pretty costly given the high real estate prices they're dealing with) although it also has little to no competiton in the area (there's one IGA supermarket about a block away for food, but aside from that the closest grocery stores are the Uwajimaya in the International District or QFCs on Capitol Hill or next to Seattle Center.)
architect
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 843
Joined: December 8th, 2015, 3:41 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 7 times
Status: Offline

Re: Target to close 11 stores before year end

Post by architect »

Two recent store closure announcements that were missed: At the end of January, both the SuperTarget in Indio, Ca and the SuperTarget in East Roswell, GA (on Holcomb Bridge Rd) are closing. Both stores are likely closing due to their isolated locations and high overhead from featuring a full grocery selection. The Roswell store is surrounded by upscale neighborhoods but is far from any major highways, while the Indio store was originally built for development which never materialized. Supposedly, one other store in the country is closing at the end of the month, but I cannot find any record of where this third store is located.
rwsandiego
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1242
Joined: April 3rd, 2016, 10:57 pm
Has thanked: 23 times
Been thanked: 55 times
Status: Offline

Re: Target to close 11 stores before year end

Post by rwsandiego »

Although I prefer Target to Wal-Mart, Target is no longer a fun place to shop nor can I find everything there that I need, thanks to the addition of a grocery section. The only grocery items I buy are soup (although in Phoenix it seems like Safeway frequently has Progresso on sale for 99 cents when you buy four, and who wouldn't at that price?), Talenti sorbet, organic eggs (they are less expensive than Safeway or Fry's), and Kellogg's raisin bran. Frankly, I would rather have the old selection and vibe back at Target.

pseudo3d, you hit the nail on the head in regards to clothing: you can do better at a Macy's or sometimes even a Nordstrom sale than at Target. I recently went to Target for a rolling briefcase to replace on I bought there years ago. For starters, they didn't have an actual rolling briefcase. What hey did have was more expensive/lower quality than what Macy's would sell on sale. A visit to the Nordstrom rack in the same shopping center yielded exactly what I wanted for $5 less than Target.
arizonaguy
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1107
Joined: July 12th, 2013, 6:07 pm
Been thanked: 35 times
Status: Offline

Re: Target to close 11 stores before year end

Post by arizonaguy »

rwsandiego wrote:Although I prefer Target to Wal-Mart, Target is no longer a fun place to shop nor can I find everything there that I need, thanks to the addition of a grocery section. The only grocery items I buy are soup (although in Phoenix it seems like Safeway frequently has Progresso on sale for 99 cents when you buy four, and who wouldn't at that price?), Talenti sorbet, organic eggs (they are less expensive than Safeway or Fry's), and Kellogg's raisin bran. Frankly, I would rather have the old selection and vibe back at Target.

pseudo3d, you hit the nail on the head in regards to clothing: you can do better at a Macy's or sometimes even a Nordstrom sale than at Target. I recently went to Target for a rolling briefcase to replace on I bought there years ago. For starters, they didn't have an actual rolling briefcase. What hey did have was more expensive/lower quality than what Macy's would sell on sale. A visit to the Nordstrom rack in the same shopping center yielded exactly what I wanted for $5 less than Target.
The difference between Target and Walmart seems to be that at Target I can shop in a bland, lifeless store and maybe get what I need but not have to deal with a large number of people (trashy or otherwise). At Walmart I get to shop in a bland, lifeless store and will almost always find out what I need but I'll generally have to deal with a mob of people (some of which are rather trashy).

I've been to numerous Target stores and they almost always feel "dead".

As far as quality of the goods sold, Target and Walmart essentially sell the same quality items. Target just has a more limited selection.

I generally buy clothing and luggage from Beall's Outlet, Ross, TJMaxx, Marshall's, Stein Mart, or Nordstrom Rack. I find I can generally get higher quality products at a lower price than I can at Target. However, I live 3 minutes away from a SuperTarget and do a lot of grocery shopping there as it's reasonably priced and never crowded.
veteran+
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
Posts: 2233
Joined: January 3rd, 2015, 7:53 am
Has thanked: 1202 times
Been thanked: 71 times
Status: Offline

Re: Target to close 11 stores before year end

Post by veteran+ »

architect wrote:Two recent store closure announcements that were missed: At the end of January, both the SuperTarget in Indio, Ca and the SuperTarget in East Roswell, GA (on Holcomb Bridge Rd) are closing. Both stores are likely closing due to their isolated locations and high overhead from featuring a full grocery selection. The Roswell store is surrounded by upscale neighborhoods but is far from any major highways, while the Indio store was originally built for development which never materialized. Supposedly, one other store in the country is closing at the end of the month, but I cannot find any record of where this third store is located.

Wow!

The SuperTarget in Indio was across the street from the closed Fresh & Easy!

So now the only store left in the area is the Winco that is next door to the soon to close SuperTarget.

I do not remember but there may be a Stater Brothers within a mile or two.
rwsandiego
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1242
Joined: April 3rd, 2016, 10:57 pm
Has thanked: 23 times
Been thanked: 55 times
Status: Offline

Re: Target to close 11 stores before year end

Post by rwsandiego »

arizonaguy wrote:
rwsandiego wrote:Although I prefer Target to Wal-Mart, Target is no longer a fun place to shop nor can I find everything there that I need, thanks to the addition of a grocery section. The only grocery items I buy are soup (although in Phoenix it seems like Safeway frequently has Progresso on sale for 99 cents when you buy four, and who wouldn't at that price?), Talenti sorbet, organic eggs (they are less expensive than Safeway or Fry's), and Kellogg's raisin bran. Frankly, I would rather have the old selection and vibe back at Target.

pseudo3d, you hit the nail on the head in regards to clothing: you can do better at a Macy's or sometimes even a Nordstrom sale than at Target. I recently went to Target for a rolling briefcase to replace on I bought there years ago. For starters, they didn't have an actual rolling briefcase. What hey did have was more expensive/lower quality than what Macy's would sell on sale. A visit to the Nordstrom rack in the same shopping center yielded exactly what I wanted for $5 less than Target.
The difference between Target and Walmart seems to be that at Target I can shop in a bland, lifeless store and maybe get what I need but not have to deal with a large number of people (trashy or otherwise). At Walmart I get to shop in a bland, lifeless store and will almost always find out what I need but I'll generally have to deal with a mob of people (some of which are rather trashy).

I've been to numerous Target stores and they almost always feel "dead".

As far as quality of the goods sold, Target and Walmart essentially sell the same quality items. Target just has a more limited selection.

I generally buy clothing and luggage from Beall's Outlet, Ross, TJMaxx, Marshall's, Stein Mart, or Nordstrom Rack. I find I can generally get higher quality products at a lower price than I can at Target. However, I live 3 minutes away from a SuperTarget and do a lot of grocery shopping there as it's reasonably priced and never crowded.
I just moved to Phoenix from San Diego and have to say the Target stores I've visited are not as busy as the ones in San Diego. Then again, my basis for comparison are three stores in extremely dense parts of SD (Mission Valley, the Midway District/Point Loma, and Clairemont Mesa) where there is not a nearby Walmart. The bennie, of course, is the lack of a mob scene, particularly at the Mission Valley store which is busy at 11:30 PM.

I have never been a Walmart fan, but over the last few years their stores have become more fun to shop than Target. Shopping at Target used to be like a treasure hunt, but no more. As you said, they have become bland. Walmart still has acres of cheap stuff, much of which is bland and of lesser quality, but they now have little "finds" much like Target of years ago.
mbz321
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 747
Joined: March 11th, 2010, 7:52 pm
Has thanked: 96 times
Been thanked: 54 times
Status: Offline

Re: Target to close 11 stores before year end

Post by mbz321 »

My first visit to a SuperTarget this past week when I was in South Florida (Boynton Beach specifically) was pretty unimpressive to say the least. Maybe they were just super busy earlier in the day (doubt it), but they shelves were very poorly stocked, especially in the fresh food areas (almost empty freezer cases, poor selection of dairy products), and foot traffic seemed to be pretty low. The prices overall seemed better than Publix (which is the only other standard grocery store in this town), although some things were stupid high (like 99 cents per bagel in the bakery case). To top it off, while this store had plenty of self-checkouts, they only had one regular line open with several customers in it. If this is commonplace, I think we will see these stores cut back further in their grocery offerings, as Target has seemed to pretty much abandon the 'SuperTarget' format in favor of much smaller stores.
arizonaguy
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1107
Joined: July 12th, 2013, 6:07 pm
Been thanked: 35 times
Status: Offline

Re: Target to close 11 stores before year end

Post by arizonaguy »

rwsandiego wrote:
arizonaguy wrote:
rwsandiego wrote:Although I prefer Target to Wal-Mart, Target is no longer a fun place to shop nor can I find everything there that I need, thanks to the addition of a grocery section. The only grocery items I buy are soup (although in Phoenix it seems like Safeway frequently has Progresso on sale for 99 cents when you buy four, and who wouldn't at that price?), Talenti sorbet, organic eggs (they are less expensive than Safeway or Fry's), and Kellogg's raisin bran. Frankly, I would rather have the old selection and vibe back at Target.

pseudo3d, you hit the nail on the head in regards to clothing: you can do better at a Macy's or sometimes even a Nordstrom sale than at Target. I recently went to Target for a rolling briefcase to replace on I bought there years ago. For starters, they didn't have an actual rolling briefcase. What hey did have was more expensive/lower quality than what Macy's would sell on sale. A visit to the Nordstrom rack in the same shopping center yielded exactly what I wanted for $5 less than Target.
The difference between Target and Walmart seems to be that at Target I can shop in a bland, lifeless store and maybe get what I need but not have to deal with a large number of people (trashy or otherwise). At Walmart I get to shop in a bland, lifeless store and will almost always find out what I need but I'll generally have to deal with a mob of people (some of which are rather trashy).

I've been to numerous Target stores and they almost always feel "dead".

As far as quality of the goods sold, Target and Walmart essentially sell the same quality items. Target just has a more limited selection.

I generally buy clothing and luggage from Beall's Outlet, Ross, TJMaxx, Marshall's, Stein Mart, or Nordstrom Rack. I find I can generally get higher quality products at a lower price than I can at Target. However, I live 3 minutes away from a SuperTarget and do a lot of grocery shopping there as it's reasonably priced and never crowded.
I just moved to Phoenix from San Diego and have to say the Target stores I've visited are not as busy as the ones in San Diego. Then again, my basis for comparison are three stores in extremely dense parts of SD (Mission Valley, the Midway District/Point Loma, and Clairemont Mesa) where there is not a nearby Walmart. The bennie, of course, is the lack of a mob scene, particularly at the Mission Valley store which is busy at 11:30 PM.

I have never been a Walmart fan, but over the last few years their stores have become more fun to shop than Target. Shopping at Target used to be like a treasure hunt, but no more. As you said, they have become bland. Walmart still has acres of cheap stuff, much of which is bland and of lesser quality, but they now have little "finds" much like Target of years ago.
I'm not so sure there's much of a quality difference between Walmart and Target anymore. I believe similar items are of similar quality at both stores. Target does sell more natural / organic food items and has a better private label food program (on items that are private label) but that's about it. Target's limited to nonexistant assortment of lawn and garden, hardware, crafts, automotive, men's shoes, etc. causes me to go to Walmart if I want to one stop shop.

There are a few busy Target stores around the Phoenix area: Desert Ridge Marketplace, Tempe Marketplace, Arrowhead Town Center, Chandler Village, ChrisTown (SuperTarget), and the North Scottsdale (Frank Lloyd Wright / Loop 101) targets all seem to get decent traffic. However, many of the other stores really don't. Walmart Supercenters are generally busy in the Phoenix area although their Neighborhood Market stores don't get nearly the business that a typical Fry's store gets (and appear to be lower volume than Safeway).

With Walmart, there's just a level of inconsistency on their nicer stores versus their "less than desirable" stores. There are some Walmarts that I would never go to at night.
architect
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 843
Joined: December 8th, 2015, 3:41 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 7 times
Status: Offline

Re: Target to close 11 stores before year end

Post by architect »

arizonaguy wrote:I'm not so sure there's much of a quality difference between Walmart and Target anymore. I believe similar items are of similar quality at both stores. Target does sell more natural / organic food items and has a better private label food program (on items that are private label) but that's about it. Target's limited to nonexistant assortment of lawn and garden, hardware, crafts, automotive, men's shoes, etc. causes me to go to Walmart if I want to one stop shop.

There are a few busy Target stores around the Phoenix area: Desert Ridge Marketplace, Tempe Marketplace, Arrowhead Town Center, Chandler Village, ChrisTown (SuperTarget), and the North Scottsdale (Frank Lloyd Wright / Loop 101) targets all seem to get decent traffic. However, many of the other stores really don't. Walmart Supercenters are generally busy in the Phoenix area although their Neighborhood Market stores don't get nearly the business that a typical Fry's store gets (and appear to be lower volume than Safeway).

With Walmart, there's just a level of inconsistency on their nicer stores versus their "less than desirable" stores. There are some Walmarts that I would never go to at night.
With Target's food offerings, their private label selection has actually decreased substantially over the past few years. This is particularly noticeable at SuperTarget locations, where in many categories, there is no private-label option and the name brand product is increased in price as a result. Although their Simply Balanced line is a step in the right direction, new product development seems to have plateaued over the last year or two, vs Kroger's Simple Truth which is constantly adding new products.

In addition, at most Target stores, the grocery product offering simply has fallen out of touch with most shoppers. For example, in a typical Target store, the majority of dried pastas offered are either Barilla or Market Pantry, low quality US-produced pastas which most discerning shoppers would not touch with a nine foot pole. On the other hand, most of the Simply Balanced pastas are extremely high quality and are produced in Italy (with much higher quality standards). Unfortunately, the full line of these pastas can mostly only be found at SuperTarget stores. In addition, Target carries no good quality "staple" pasta brand such as either DeCecco or Delverde. In another example, Target does not carry McCormick Gourmet spices, which are a staple in pretty much any supermarket. Repeat these deficiencies across every department, and you have a recipe for shopper frustration and dissatisfaction.
J-Man
Personnel Manager
Personnel Manager
Posts: 296
Joined: April 10th, 2011, 4:14 pm
Been thanked: 17 times
Status: Offline

Re: Target to close 11 stores before year end

Post by J-Man »

Wow!

The SuperTarget in Indio was across the street from the closed Fresh & Easy!

So now the only store left in the area is the Winco that is next door to the soon to close SuperTarget.

I do not remember but there may be a Stater Brothers within a mile or two.
The Kmart in Indio closed down late last year as well. There are still a (non-Super)Target and a Walmart Supercenter in La Quinta, just over the border from Indio.
Post Reply