Target using lowercase "target" on full-scale stores

Predicting the demise of Sears & Kmart since 2017!
User avatar
submariner
Founder of RetailWatchers.com
Founder of RetailWatchers.com
Posts: 571
Joined: February 22nd, 2009, 10:35 am
Location: Canberra, ACT, Australia
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 24 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Target using lowercase "target" on full-scale stores

Post by submariner »

This is interesting. The Target store in Fullerton (Orangethorpe/Harbor) is wrapping up their recent remodel where they also replaced their street signage. The street signage, being rectangular, isn't conducive to having the bullseye on its own, as seems to be the norm these days. However, it's spelling out "target" in all lower-case letters. The only place I've seen this before is in Target's smaller-format "express" stores (that are no longer branded "express") that they've been putting in former grocery stores. This Target in Fullerton however is a full-size store, mostly replacing the former Montgomery Ward store here some years ago.

IMG_1596.jpg
Super S
Posts: 2690
Joined: April 1st, 2009, 9:27 pm
Has thanked: 11 times
Been thanked: 61 times
Status: Offline

Re: Target using lowercase "target" on full-scale stores

Post by Super S »

What about the store signage?
User avatar
submariner
Founder of RetailWatchers.com
Founder of RetailWatchers.com
Posts: 571
Joined: February 22nd, 2009, 10:35 am
Location: Canberra, ACT, Australia
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 24 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Target using lowercase "target" on full-scale stores

Post by submariner »

Super S wrote:What about the store signage?
I didn’t go inside, and I was on the wrong side of the shopping center for the entrance; but I’m 99% certain it’s just the bullseye.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
marshd1000
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 587
Joined: March 2nd, 2009, 1:46 pm
Been thanked: 12 times
Status: Offline

Re: Target using lowercase "target" on full-scale stores

Post by marshd1000 »

Target at Factoria Marketplacein Bellevue, WA, has this logo too! Interestingly enough, the un affiliated Target Australia has had a sismilar font in their logo for years!
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Target using lowercase "target" on full-scale stores

Post by storewanderer »

Real innovative to practically copy the Target Australia logo... but kind of explains the current confused state of Target throwing darts wherever and hoping they hit the bulls eye with something. I always think there needs to be a good reason to change signs and am often critical of logo/sign changes. In any case, Target Australia is being downsized and it will be interesting to see if it turns around in the coming years.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/busines ... 2f71c1eb65
User avatar
submariner
Founder of RetailWatchers.com
Founder of RetailWatchers.com
Posts: 571
Joined: February 22nd, 2009, 10:35 am
Location: Canberra, ACT, Australia
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 24 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Target using lowercase "target" on full-scale stores

Post by submariner »

storewanderer wrote: June 17th, 2018, 12:50 pm Real innovative to practically copy the Target Australia logo... but kind of explains the current confused state of Target throwing darts wherever and hoping they hit the bulls eye with something. I always think there needs to be a good reason to change signs and am often critical of logo/sign changes. In any case, Target Australia is being downsized and it will be interesting to see if it turns around in the coming years.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/busines ... 2f71c1eb65
I don't think it's fair to say Target in the US is "copying" the logo of Target Australia. Target in Australia has just about always stylized their logo "Target." (in sentence-case, including the period). Though looking further, it looks like they have a new version, removing the period and using a different font altogether. They do share an identical bullseye, however, and Target Australia is permitted to use it with permission from Target US.
target.png
Your linked article is interesting, noting how some Targets could be Converted into Kmarts. Walking into a Kmart in Australia is a shock, compared to the stores in the US. The stores are clean, modern, and frankly a full 180° from the US counterparts. One flourished while the other failed.

Let me detour into Australian retail history for a bit, to provide some context: for those unaware, Target Australia was never affiliated with Target in the US. Kmart in Australia WAS formerly co-owned by the Kmart corporation in the US, but was fully sold off in 1994. The other co-owner of Kmart Australia, Coles LTD took full control of Kmart in Australia in 1994. Through prior mergers, Target had been in their portfolio since 1985. Today, Wesfarmers Ltd owns Kmart, Target, and Coles supermarkets.

Example of Bizzaro-World Kmart:

Image
Kmart Australia by Aaron Slater, on Flickr
Image
Kmart Australia by Aaron Slater, on Flickr

Example of Target Australia:

Image
Target (Australia) by Aaron Slater, on Flickr
Image
Target by Aaron Slater, on Flickr
klkla
Posts: 1614
Joined: February 24th, 2009, 3:26 pm
Been thanked: 2 times
Status: Offline

Re: Target using lowercase "target" on full-scale stores

Post by klkla »

The new Target in L.A. that I mentioned in the other thread has the lower case letters, too, even though I didn't think much about it at the time:

https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb ... oioIwAEwCg
User avatar
submariner
Founder of RetailWatchers.com
Founder of RetailWatchers.com
Posts: 571
Joined: February 22nd, 2009, 10:35 am
Location: Canberra, ACT, Australia
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 24 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Target using lowercase "target" on full-scale stores

Post by submariner »

klkla wrote:The new Target in L.A. that I mentioned in the other thread has the lower case letters, too, even though I didn't think much about it at the time:

https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb ... oioIwAEwCg

I’ve seen it in use at the smaller stores that were or would have been called “city” or “express”, I figured it was a way to coyly define the smaller stores; but the Fullerton store is the first full-scale one I’ve seen using it.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Super S
Posts: 2690
Joined: April 1st, 2009, 9:27 pm
Has thanked: 11 times
Been thanked: 61 times
Status: Offline

Re: Target using lowercase "target" on full-scale stores

Post by Super S »

I am a little surprised that Target has done so little over the years to update their logo to be honest. And even more surprised at some of the inconsistencies starting to surface. There is the old red logo/letters, (with some older versions using a red and white bullseye signage, more common is red with no white segment in between), large bullseyes with TARGET in small letters below, the bullseye only, and now a lowercase logo. More recent logos have appeared in all white against a red background. Target print ads also sometimes have the word TARGET in black next to the red bullseye.
User avatar
submariner
Founder of RetailWatchers.com
Founder of RetailWatchers.com
Posts: 571
Joined: February 22nd, 2009, 10:35 am
Location: Canberra, ACT, Australia
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 24 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Target using lowercase "target" on full-scale stores

Post by submariner »

Super S wrote:I am a little surprised that Target has done so little over the years to update their logo to be honest. And even more surprised at some of the inconsistencies starting to surface. There is the old red logo/letters, (with some older versions using a red and white bullseye signage, more common is red with no white segment in between), large bullseyes with TARGET in small letters below, the bullseye only, and now a lowercase logo. More recent logos have appeared in all white against a red background. Target print ads also sometimes have the word TARGET in black next to the red bullseye.

So, I found this during my research earlier, in 2006, Target “decoupled” the name from the logo... presumably to play with it in different ways you mentioned.

https://corporate.target.com/article/20 ... arget-logo


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Post Reply