Signs of trouble at Target?

Predicting the demise of Sears & Kmart since 2017!
BatteryMill
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Re: Signs of trouble at Target?

Post by BatteryMill »

Bagels wrote: October 22nd, 2019, 8:42 pm The quality of renovation varies from store to store. I imagine there's a multitude of factors, including the age, performance, lease of the store, etc. Business Insider had pictures of a remodeled store in Manhattan, and it looks like an upscale department and upscale grocery store. About half the Irvine Spectrum Mall (CA) location received these upgrades as well, with the other half virtually unchanged. And a location in San Clemente (CA) that was previously scheduled for closure (probably lease related, since the place is always busy) received updated lighting and little else.

My parents live in the Midwest, and I noticed that both mid-1980s locations I visited recently received similarly random upgrades; most noticeable, the oversized but always empty Target Cafes were replaced with the new Guest Services, whereas the former Guest Services were converted into the self-service cafe.

One Target to watch: Garden Grove, CA. While I'm certain there's others, this is the only "classic" Target I'm aware of that still exists, with little renovation done through the years sans the removal of the garden center. With much of the surrounding area gentrifying into new Disneyland lodging, I'm pondering if Target's unable to secure a long-term lease.
You might be confusing these partial remodels with "Innovation" projects that only change specific departments or service areas of the store. These are mostly in place to re-allocate these spaces and test new concepts. Completely remodeled stores, in addition to having outside banners during the process, also applies to new backlit walls and overhead signage (features which I know are standard throughout all stores in the 2017-onwards remodeling campaign).
storewanderer wrote: October 22nd, 2019, 9:34 pm I guess this is like many remodel programs. It starts out with top of the line first class remodels on highly visible stores. Then as it gets rolled out to more and more stores, it gets cheapened and more and more watered down, for the variety of reasons you have noted.
While they've managed to keep the quality up, and actually improve it from previous years, even their newest efforts can wither over time. Their new store in Columbus-New Albany seems to be cutting a few corners - they did not opt for a ceiling structure like many of the high-end remodels, and the lighting scheme feels more like a classic store, sans the spotlights.
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Re: Signs of trouble at Target?

Post by SamSpade »

Here's an example of current (non TV) marketing by Target. Taking popular(with both gelnders) comedian Haddish and pairing her with "hot wings guy" (very popular YouTube channel with both genders), this is a trip through a former City Target for date night.


At first I thought it was Portland but apparently other stores have the giant entry escalators and windows.

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Re: Signs of trouble at Target?

Post by J-Man »

There's a brief glimpse of a sign that says "Triangle Junction" outside the store; that location is in Brooklyn.
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Re: Signs of trouble at Target?

Post by Super S »

A little update about the Kelso store that prompted this thread.

Over the last couple months all of the exterior signage was updated, the lower case logo now appears on the north side of the building, while the front was painted red and now just has a giant white bullseye above the doors.

More importantly, a remodel has begun as many containers have moved to the site, and a large tent has also been moved to the parking lot.

How thorough this remodel will be remains to be seen, but it is worth noting that Fred Meyer and Walmart have both remodeled recently. It is also worth noting that this store is located next to the struggling Three Rivers Mall. This location had been giving off mixed signals about its future over the last few years, and I wonder if the remodel might spark an interest in redeveloping the mall.

I think it's now safe to say that this store will not be closing any time soon.
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Re: Signs of trouble at Target?

Post by storewanderer »

Super S wrote: February 6th, 2020, 11:31 am

I think it's now safe to say that this store will not be closing any time soon.
They seem to be remodeling many of the "forgotten" stores lately. Whether or not the remodeling efforts drum up business remains to be seen. I do suspect however these "forgotten" stores they are remodeling have positive sales trends over the past few years in line with the rest of the chain and that is probably their thinking to remodeling is that the business was turning around so try a remodel to turn it around further. A few merchandising missteps or an economic downtown will change the situation for this company and these stores real fast. I am not convinced these stores are safe just because they have gotten remodels.
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Re: Signs of trouble at Target?

Post by Super S »

storewanderer wrote: February 6th, 2020, 3:50 pm
Super S wrote: February 6th, 2020, 11:31 am

I think it's now safe to say that this store will not be closing any time soon.
They seem to be remodeling many of the "forgotten" stores lately. Whether or not the remodeling efforts drum up business remains to be seen. I do suspect however these "forgotten" stores they are remodeling have positive sales trends over the past few years in line with the rest of the chain and that is probably their thinking to remodeling is that the business was turning around so try a remodel to turn it around further. A few merchandising missteps or an economic downtown will change the situation for this company and these stores real fast. I am not convinced these stores are safe just because they have gotten remodels.
The Kelso store may have benefited from the closures of Sears and Macy's as well as many of the other stores in the mall, and has been a bit of a draw for those along the Oregon/Washington coasts where Target does not operate. But it was starting to look a bit dated as this location tends to go longer between remodels than some of the stores around Vancouver/Portland and other larger towns. The Kelso store never even received a Pfresh remodel, and I am curious if this location is going to ramp up their grocery offerings.
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Re: Signs of trouble at Target?

Post by storewanderer »

Super S wrote: February 10th, 2020, 9:57 am

The Kelso store may have benefited from the closures of Sears and Macy's as well as many of the other stores in the mall, and has been a bit of a draw for those along the Oregon/Washington coasts where Target does not operate. But it was starting to look a bit dated as this location tends to go longer between remodels than some of the stores around Vancouver/Portland and other larger towns. The Kelso store never even received a Pfresh remodel, and I am curious if this location is going to ramp up their grocery offerings.

The Carson City location that they remodeled last year did not get a P Fresh. I think this is an indication of where Target is with its P Fresh offering and food program in general. This particular location is a 10 minute drive from any real grocery store and with the amount of housing around, adding in more food and pharmacy would really help its business. It is a 3 minute drive from Wal Mart and Trader Joe's but that can be long if you don't hit the lights right. It never had one as it hadn't been remodeled ever since opening in 1995. What it did get was a Starbucks in-store, self checkouts, new carpets in clothing, new lighting above an expanded cosmetics department, and renovated restrooms with no paper towels (only air dryers). It kept all old shelving, most old tile flooring,

On Sunday I went into the Carson City Target location in the afternoon. When I walked in, they had one lane open with about 5 people in line and the self checkouts were all in use. In walking through the store I saw maybe 5 employees total on the sales floor. The store is very neat, very clean, and very lightly stocked with only 2-3 of most items on the shelves throughout kitchen/bath and hardlines. Grocery/pet/cleaning (all 3 of which are scattered in different places in the store) has noticeably more full shelves. About 10 minutes later I was ready to pay and the front was a lot more quiet. One checkout open plus the 4 self checkouts. At that point, there was one customer using the regular checkout and then 2 of the self checkouts were in use. Target used to have the biggest, thickest plastic bags of any grocer or mass retailer. I noticed on this visit Target has new smaller thinner plastic bags, now made in Cambodia. I did notice at least six used Starbucks cups in the parking lot, a few of which wedged under cart returns, so maybe they are generating more sales with the new Starbucks there in the store.

Immediately before I was at the Wal Mart 3 minutes away and it was very very busy. They have something in the neighborhood of +/- 25 self checkouts most of which were working (6 are strange little walk up kiosk type units that do not accept cash or produce) and at least 7 or 8 regular lanes open with moderate lines. The store was very busy throughout and had dozens of employees. Plastic bags being used there, equally thin and flimsy to the new imported Target ones, said Made in USA.
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Re: Signs of trouble at Target?

Post by jamcool »

Target apparently wants to build hundreds of smaller stores, primarily in urban areas and near colleges. They would be the size of a convenience store
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Re: Signs of trouble at Target?

Post by TW-Upstate NY »

jamcool wrote: March 5th, 2020, 6:58 am Target apparently wants to build hundreds of smaller stores, primarily in urban areas and near colleges. They would be the size of a convenience store
Could that be an indirect way of trying to compete with Dollar General?
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Re: Signs of trouble at Target?

Post by storewanderer »

TW-Upstate NY wrote: March 5th, 2020, 12:27 pm
jamcool wrote: March 5th, 2020, 6:58 am Target apparently wants to build hundreds of smaller stores, primarily in urban areas and near colleges. They would be the size of a convenience store
Could that be an indirect way of trying to compete with Dollar General?
I suspect they will put their small stores where Dollar General isn't (which is a lot of places).

I am not sure what the reason for the customer to visit these small Target stores will be. What will they sell? The size of a convenience store? Maybe they serve as a pick-up point for online orders? How do they handle returns for items that they don't carry (send back to distro center or transfer to a larger store)? I guess we will see how this works. Some of those City Targets have done very well but they are decent square footage, few are c-store sized. Some are drug store sized... but that's a lot bigger than a c-store.
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