Target to shift to larger 150k square foot prototype

[veteran+]

Reno Target is in unbelievably poor shape for a week before Thanksgiving.

I don't know what this chain is thinking or how store and regional management get away with a store like this.

Had the usual group of employees standing around talking up front. Only a few employees on sales floor. No clue who the manager on duty is.

Looks like the place is going out of business. Obviously it isn't. Looks like a bad Kmart halfway through liquidation but with shiny floors.

This Target chain is extremely distressed to allow a store to look like this for the past 6+ months and even after a store management change.

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I'm still baffled every time I see these pictures of Reno, but I wasn't very impressed with anything I saw in Oregon or Washington last month either.

I was just in a SuperTarget in Menifee (Riverside County area) and the store was absolutely immaculate. Maybe a handful of outs in each aisle. Someone with grocery experience is clearly managing foods - they get the concept of merchandising to ownership, fully flexing the produce department etc. versus the abysmal empty racks and bins of the past as Target used to operate strictly by the plano gram. I started my Thanksgiving shopping at Costco as always but wound up getting everything else at that SuperTarget (except for the vegetables and pies I'll buy day before). I am a tad annoyed by the fact that they're starting some of that "must buy 2" pricing on some of the foods, example Campbell's soups were $4 for 4 (must buy 4 or otherwise regular price). But I seem to recall they did the same thing last year around Thanksgiving so maybe it's a temporary thing driven by vendors? The store was very busy, packed parking lot. They added a bank of Tesla super chargers which is certainly helping their business, and the Murrieta/Temecula/Menifee area is still thriving because you can still buy a very nice, large home at a reasonable price. My other recent Target experiences at full size stores in LA and Orange County were also fine, but this Menifee store really shines. We did visit a small format by LAX recently and it looked about like that Reno store - newly opened and looted daily by shoplifting, smaller than the CVS across the street. It's a complete waste but clearly they never should have opened it plus the area has severely deteriorated in last 18 months like much of LA (I think they got stuck - signed the lease and sat on it as long as allowable before they had to open it to meet contract requirements).

So I just don't know what to say other than Target clearly has the capability of running excellent stores again, but they must have some of the divisional issues we see at other companies (like the dreadful Denver division at Albertsons). I'm still convinced that their Southern California region is probably their best operated division - with rare exceptions store conditions are always good, and if you encounter a bad store here it gets fixed very quickly and stays fixed.

My friend in Lone Tree (south of Denver) says his SuperTarget is awesome like the one you describe.

Here in the finer neighborhoods of Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Westwood, etc., I am not impressed at all with Target of any size.

[storewanderer]

I'm still baffled every time I see these pictures of Reno, but I wasn't very impressed with anything I saw in Oregon or Washington last month either.

I was just in a SuperTarget in Menifee (Riverside County area) and the store was absolutely immaculate. Maybe a handful of outs in each aisle. Someone with grocery experience is clearly managing foods - they get the concept of merchandising to ownership, fully flexing the produce department etc. versus the abysmal empty racks and bins of the past as Target used to operate strictly by the plano gram. I started my Thanksgiving shopping at Costco as always but wound up getting everything else at that SuperTarget (except for the vegetables and pies I'll buy day before). I am a tad annoyed by the fact that they're starting some of that "must buy 2" pricing on some of the foods, example Campbell's soups were $4 for 4 (must buy 4 or otherwise regular price). But I seem to recall they did the same thing last year around Thanksgiving so maybe it's a temporary thing driven by vendors? The store was very busy, packed parking lot. They added a bank of Tesla super chargers which is certainly helping their business, and the Murrieta/Temecula/Menifee area is still thriving because you can still buy a very nice, large home at a reasonable price. My other recent Target experiences at full size stores in LA and Orange County were also fine, but this Menifee store really shines. We did visit a small format by LAX recently and it looked about like that Reno store - newly opened and looted daily by shoplifting, smaller than the CVS across the street. It's a complete waste but clearly they never should have opened it plus the area has severely deteriorated in last 18 months like much of LA (I think they got stuck - signed the lease and sat on it as long as allowable before they had to open it to meet contract requirements).

So I just don't know what to say other than Target clearly has the capability of running excellent stores again, but they must have some of the divisional issues we see at other companies (like the dreadful Denver division at Albertsons). I'm still convinced that their Southern California region is probably their best operated division - with rare exceptions store conditions are always good, and if you encounter a bad store here it gets fixed very quickly and stays fixed.

I'm baffled too. The Target Stores in Sacramento area don't look anything like Reno or Sparks look (Sparks doesn't look much better than Reno). They are in the same district/region, same supervision staff.

Wal Mart around Reno has what I call a "strike team" (don't ask me why I call it this). This team is of high tenured hourly employees (probably a bunch of old department managers from the old days) that goes around from store to store and cleans them up. They basically spend a couple weeks in each store trying to clean the store up (basically get all the pallets out of the center aisles) and the cycle keeps repeating. It is funny when you go into a store they are just getting finished with- it is neat and fully stocked, then you go back a week later and the pallets are accumulating again.

[babs]

Wal Mart around Reno has what I call a "strike team" (don't ask me why I call it this). This team is of high tenured hourly employees (probably a bunch of old department managers from the old days) that goes around from store to store and cleans them up. They basically spend a couple weeks in each store trying to clean the store up (basically get all the pallets out of the center aisles) and the cycle keeps repeating. It is funny when you go into a store they are just getting finished with- it is neat and fully stocked, then you go back a week later and the pallets are accumulating again.

They need a team like that in the Pacific NW as regardless of which Walmart U visit, they are completely trashed. No rotation in the food dept so you always have to watch for expiration dates. Clothing departments with clothing everywhere, tons of empty shelves. It's clear they are more concerned about prices than quality.

[ClownLoach]

Wal Mart around Reno has what I call a "strike team" (don't ask me why I call it this). This team is of high tenured hourly employees (probably a bunch of old department managers from the old days) that goes around from store to store and cleans them up. They basically spend a couple weeks in each store trying to clean the store up (basically get all the pallets out of the center aisles) and the cycle keeps repeating. It is funny when you go into a store they are just getting finished with- it is neat and fully stocked, then you go back a week later and the pallets are accumulating again.

They need a team like that in the Pacific NW as regardless of which Walmart U visit, they are completely trashed. No rotation in the food dept so you always have to watch for expiration dates. Clothing departments with clothing everywhere, tons of empty shelves. It's clear they are more concerned about prices than quality.

When I became a District Manager for the first time, I inherited a district that was all broken stores. It had a SWAT team who would go from store to store fixing them. My first act as DM was to immediately halt the SWAT team program and sent everyone back to their own store.

SWAT teams enable a lack of accountability. Stores don't have to work hard anymore, and then they're rewarded for their lack of effort when other people come in from outside and work their butts off fixing everything. Then those on the SWAT team have a built in excuse for their own store being bad - they were fixing someone else's store! It turns into a house of cards and before you know it all the stores are broken in the whole district/region/etc.

What drives SWAT team culture is when the boss always announces their store visits. Generally both Target and Walmart do not have unannounced visits from anyone above the DM. When the Regional VP or higher comes to visit they are usually on the calendar months in advance... So the DM knows that they need to send in the SWAT team to fix store 1234 and the next nearest locations 5678 and 9012. And as long as the visitor only goes to the planned store then the district will be able to stay broken. But once that regional finds out how bad things really are then it comes crashing down like a house of cards.

As far as Reno goes - I'll bet that nobody visits that store, not even the DM, without like a month's notice. And they probably visit once or twice a year.

[bryceleinan]

Reno Target is in unbelievably poor shape for a week before Thanksgiving.

I don't know what this chain is thinking or how store and regional management get away with a store like this.

Had the usual group of employees standing around talking up front. Only a few employees on sales floor. No clue who the manager on duty is.

Looks like the place is going out of business. Obviously it isn't. Looks like a bad Kmart halfway through liquidation but with shiny floors.

This Target chain is extremely distressed to allow a store to look like this for the past 6+ months and even after a store management change.

It's the same thing we talked about with Panera, Boston Market, and other chains... they have grandiose plans of expansion, yet cannot bother to get the core items correct. Personally, I quit going to the Reno or Sparks Targets after my last experiences in both of them - the smaller Carson Target looks a lot better by comparison. I don't understand how Target keeps expanding when their existing stores look like a going out of business sale.

[storewanderer]

When I became a District Manager for the first time, I inherited a district that was all broken stores. It had a SWAT team who would go from store to store fixing them. My first act as DM was to immediately halt the SWAT team program and sent everyone back to their own store.

SWAT teams enable a lack of accountability. Stores don't have to work hard anymore, and then they're rewarded for their lack of effort when other people come in from outside and work their butts off fixing everything. Then those on the SWAT team have a built in excuse for their own store being bad - they were fixing someone else's store! It turns into a house of cards and before you know it all the stores are broken in the whole district/region/etc.

What drives SWAT team culture is when the boss always announces their store visits. Generally both Target and Walmart do not have unannounced visits from anyone above the DM. When the Regional VP or higher comes to visit they are usually on the calendar months in advance... So the DM knows that they need to send in the SWAT team to fix store 1234 and the next nearest locations 5678 and 9012. And as long as the visitor only goes to the planned store then the district will be able to stay broken. But once that regional finds out how bad things really are then it comes crashing down like a house of cards.

As far as Reno goes - I'll bet that nobody visits that store, not even the DM, without like a month's notice. And they probably visit once or twice a year.

The other thing is these SWAT Teams cost money. They often use overtime, travel pay to/from stores, etc. Given Wal Mart is a revolving door of store managers it seems nobody cares how much is spent since the store manager won't even be in the store long enough to care/bonus. What amazes me is these Wal Marts (the busier ones- basically almost all of them) completely break again within a week after the SWAT Team leaves. There is one Wal Mart, probably the lowest volume in the area, with the least challenging customer base, that has been maintained, neat, and stocked for the past couple months after it got help, while every other location in the area is a complete dumpster fire.

Target Regional knows how bad things are in Reno. Management changes occurred early summer. NOTHING changed. What do you do when a store is this broken?

Another good one in Reno this week: large chain grocer, high volume store with an undersized backroom ($850k/week). Entire freight crew walked out a couple nights ago and cannot be reached. Past two days only way to restock has been to use management, overtime from anyone who will do it, and pull help from other locations (which are also understaffed and just getting by). They basically have two semis full of pallets out on the sales floor as I type this, trying to stock as best they can. Complete disaster at the worst time.

This is the labor attitude in Reno.

[veteran+]

Wal Mart around Reno has what I call a "strike team" (don't ask me why I call it this). This team is of high tenured hourly employees (probably a bunch of old department managers from the old days) that goes around from store to store and cleans them up. They basically spend a couple weeks in each store trying to clean the store up (basically get all the pallets out of the center aisles) and the cycle keeps repeating. It is funny when you go into a store they are just getting finished with- it is neat and fully stocked, then you go back a week later and the pallets are accumulating again.

They need a team like that in the Pacific NW as regardless of which Walmart U visit, they are completely trashed. No rotation in the food dept so you always have to watch for expiration dates. Clothing departments with clothing everywhere, tons of empty shelves. It's clear they are more concerned about prices than quality.

When I became a District Manager for the first time, I inherited a district that was all broken stores. It had a SWAT team who would go from store to store fixing them. My first act as DM was to immediately halt the SWAT team program and sent everyone back to their own store.

SWAT teams enable a lack of accountability. Stores don't have to work hard anymore, and then they're rewarded for their lack of effort when other people come in from outside and work their butts off fixing everything. Then those on the SWAT team have a built in excuse for their own store being bad - they were fixing someone else's store! It turns into a house of cards and before you know it all the stores are broken in the whole district/region/etc.

What drives SWAT team culture is when the boss always announces their store visits. Generally both Target and Walmart do not have unannounced visits from anyone above the DM. When the Regional VP or higher comes to visit they are usually on the calendar months in advance... So the DM knows that they need to send in the SWAT team to fix store 1234 and the next nearest locations 5678 and 9012. And as long as the visitor only goes to the planned store then the district will be able to stay broken. But once that regional finds out how bad things really are then it comes crashing down like a house of cards.

As far as Reno goes - I'll bet that nobody visits that store, not even the DM, without like a month's notice. And they probably visit once or twice a year.

Exactly my experience with these "swat teams". I quickly got rid of them as well and concentrated on training, development and accountability.

[veteran+]

When I became a District Manager for the first time, I inherited a district that was all broken stores. It had a SWAT team who would go from store to store fixing them. My first act as DM was to immediately halt the SWAT team program and sent everyone back to their own store.

SWAT teams enable a lack of accountability. Stores don't have to work hard anymore, and then they're rewarded for their lack of effort when other people come in from outside and work their butts off fixing everything. Then those on the SWAT team have a built in excuse for their own store being bad - they were fixing someone else's store! It turns into a house of cards and before you know it all the stores are broken in the whole district/region/etc.

What drives SWAT team culture is when the boss always announces their store visits. Generally both Target and Walmart do not have unannounced visits from anyone above the DM. When the Regional VP or higher comes to visit they are usually on the calendar months in advance... So the DM knows that they need to send in the SWAT team to fix store 1234 and the next nearest locations 5678 and 9012. And as long as the visitor only goes to the planned store then the district will be able to stay broken. But once that regional finds out how bad things really are then it comes crashing down like a house of cards.

As far as Reno goes - I'll bet that nobody visits that store, not even the DM, without like a month's notice. And they probably visit once or twice a year.

The other thing is these SWAT Teams cost money. They often use overtime, travel pay to/from stores, etc. Given Wal Mart is a revolving door of store managers it seems nobody cares how much is spent since the store manager won't even be in the store long enough to care/bonus. What amazes me is these Wal Marts (the busier ones- basically almost all of them) completely break again within a week after the SWAT Team leaves. There is one Wal Mart, probably the lowest volume in the area, with the least challenging customer base, that has been maintained, neat, and stocked for the past couple months after it got help, while every other location in the area is a complete dumpster fire.

Target Regional knows how bad things are in Reno. Management changes occurred early summer. NOTHING changed. What do you do when a store is this broken?

Another good one in Reno this week: large chain grocer, high volume store with an undersized backroom ($850k/week). Entire freight crew walked out a couple nights ago and cannot be reached. Past two days only way to restock has been to use management, overtime from anyone who will do it, and pull help from other locations (which are also understaffed and just getting by). They basically have two semis full of pallets out on the sales floor as I type this, trying to stock as best they can. Complete disaster at the worst time.

This is the labor attitude in Reno.

It is more likely the management attitude that is causing this. These issues trickle down not up.

[storewanderer]

Exactly my experience with these "swat teams". I quickly got rid of them as well and concentrated on training, development and accountability.

I have one better than the SWAT Team. The Wal Mart locations are in such bad shape there is a rumor they are going to try to pull employees out of the grocery warehouse (about 15 minutes out of Reno) to help with the issues in the local stores this weekend. Not sure if this is true or not but the idea has been put on the table. Those warehouse employees who have been there a few years (many of them) are paid $25-$32 per hour.

[pseudo3d]

When I became a District Manager for the first time, I inherited a district that was all broken stores. It had a SWAT team who would go from store to store fixing them. My first act as DM was to immediately halt the SWAT team program and sent everyone back to their own store.

SWAT teams enable a lack of accountability. Stores don't have to work hard anymore, and then they're rewarded for their lack of effort when other people come in from outside and work their butts off fixing everything. Then those on the SWAT team have a built in excuse for their own store being bad - they were fixing someone else's store! It turns into a house of cards and before you know it all the stores are broken in the whole district/region/etc.

What drives SWAT team culture is when the boss always announces their store visits. Generally both Target and Walmart do not have unannounced visits from anyone above the DM. When the Regional VP or higher comes to visit they are usually on the calendar months in advance... So the DM knows that they need to send in the SWAT team to fix store 1234 and the next nearest locations 5678 and 9012. And as long as the visitor only goes to the planned store then the district will be able to stay broken. But once that regional finds out how bad things really are then it comes crashing down like a house of cards.

As far as Reno goes - I'll bet that nobody visits that store, not even the DM, without like a month's notice. And they probably visit once or twice a year.

The other thing is these SWAT Teams cost money. They often use overtime, travel pay to/from stores, etc. Given Wal Mart is a revolving door of store managers it seems nobody cares how much is spent since the store manager won't even be in the store long enough to care/bonus. What amazes me is these Wal Marts (the busier ones- basically almost all of them) completely break again within a week after the SWAT Team leaves. There is one Wal Mart, probably the lowest volume in the area, with the least challenging customer base, that has been maintained, neat, and stocked for the past couple months after it got help, while every other location in the area is a complete dumpster fire.

Target Regional knows how bad things are in Reno. Management changes occurred early summer. NOTHING changed. What do you do when a store is this broken?

Another good one in Reno this week: large chain grocer, high volume store with an undersized backroom ($850k/week). Entire freight crew walked out a couple nights ago and cannot be reached. Past two days only way to restock has been to use management, overtime from anyone who will do it, and pull help from other locations (which are also understaffed and just getting by). They basically have two semis full of pallets out on the sales floor as I type this, trying to stock as best they can. Complete disaster at the worst time.

This is the labor attitude in Reno.

It is more likely the management attitude that is causing this. These issues trickle down not up.

Storewanderer's tales of how bad things are in Reno seems to be universal to chains (everything's worse in Reno, no matter the Reno). I don't think it's an upper management problem specifically, even if that's where your blame tends to lie.