Full-line grocery was forced on Target by Wall Street and they relied wholesalers to execute it with, as you note, hurt the implementation. Target's model has always been higher margin items over volume, volume as an ultimate source of profit being Walmart's strategy, combined with market domination. The problem with grocery is that higher margin lines are fresh or prepared foods with are labor and equipment intensive--lots of refrigeration to malfunction and rotation needs a lot of attention. Those kinds of departments don't work in a discount or big box store unless they are baked into the history of a chain like Fred Meyer or Meijer.storewanderer wrote: ↑December 4th, 2021, 1:51 pmYou can get the "fresh" offerings of the usual Super Target right at the P-Fresh. There is almost no difference.veteran+ wrote: ↑December 3rd, 2021, 9:36 am I will have to check out that Super Target in Atwater!
The Super Target in Indio CA (next to Winco) was impressive and busy (but not as busy as Winco).
My friend in Colorado shops at a Super Target (just south of Denver - zip code 80124) and he loves it. He says it's busy all the time. He does all his grocery shopping there and says service and fresh is great!
Prehaps impressions are store specfic? Obviously, by measure of Target's lack of commitment to this format, there must be problems.
Or is it something else? The resistence to large format stores like Walmart usually come from certain types of neighborhoods and cities (?). Do those "types" of areas resist Target as well? If so, then maybe that explains Target's neglect of super center formats. It seems that Target's previous strategy of opening Super Targets in demographic areas that suited Walmart (where there was no resistence) did NOT work out well for them.
It seems that the areas that would like a Super Target are the areas that may oppose "large format" type discount combo stores with relative low wages? The areas that do not oppose these types of stores prefer Walmart over Target.
Well, I would love a Super Target in my area
Maybe something different is going on in Denver. That has been a more successful market for Super Target so maybe the perimeters there still function more. I don't think Atwater ever had a chance- when it opened it was supposed to be first in a string of Super Targets planned in that area (Lathrop was also supposed to be a Super Target but opened as Target) but then they stopped developing Super Targets.
When I look at these supercenter formats, I still think Fred Meyer is the best, despite the issues with the non food side. Meijer does some things well and other things not as well. Wal Mart- same thing and very variable by store location. Wal Marts in my area have become very unpleasant in recent months and I hope something will change. Despite all of that, Super Target is bottom of the list and quite a ways down on the bottom of the list when I rank the supercenter concepts, with its weak hardlines mix, no garden program, and poor grocery program. Target just doesn't want to invest the labor needed in the grocery operation that is needed. It is really holding them back. Target has done well since the pandemic but we will see how they do the next couple years. Target does well in a growing economy when it can sell a lot of imported general merchandise that is marked way up. Or when all of the mall based and even power center based competitors are ordered "closed" by the government and Target is the "next best thing open where you can buy general merchandise" since Wal Mart was the only other thing open. When the money flow stops for such discretionary purchases, Target historically has run into trouble. A stronger grocery operation would make Target bullet proof.
The model that probably would work best for Target would be some boutique-ish version of limited assortment, with upper-middle brands at prices below chains. The market place stores essentially do that, although some like the one near me were padded out to include meat and produce (which don't sell). That model differentiates them from Trader Joe's (more name brands) and Aldi (more upscale) but doesn't require a lot of labor. The other thing that works for them locally is having an expanded beer and wine selection. The beer is something that Trader Joe's doesn't heavily stock, and while they have to compete with regular supers for the popular brands, padding it out with well known brewpub brands is an easy way to cut the difference and appeal to their base. Target's emphasis on softlines is a weakness, not so much because of what happens in economic downturns as the need to follow fashion and the tight supply lines. Walmart did better than anyone in the last recession, but only for a short time---it was basically a year or so of better quarters and then flatline or decline. By focusing on margins, Target has the more robust model, esp. as the mid market competition like JCPenney and Sears either disappears or flounders. Walmart has nowhere to go to build volume---their last big expansion was into electronics which are commodity items where the profit is in things like warranties.