Coverage: Target is rolling out some new brands

Retailer Target Corp. is introducing some new brands to shoppers this fall as it focuses on home furnishings and apparel.

Lauren Thomas of CNBC.com had the news:

Earlier this year, Target had already made it clear that it planned to roll out 12 additional, private-label brands in the coming months. The first, Cloud Island, launched in May and features home decor, bedding and bath items. Target enthusiasts have been waiting in anticipation ever since to learn on which aisle they might find the next, new brand.

In creating more of its own, exclusive nameplates, Target is hoping to see some of the same success it’s had with Cat & Jack children’s clothing. In the months after the label’s launch, the company said spending on kid’s apparel at Target stores increased more than 50 percent.

Now, adult apparel and home furnishings will be the retailer’s core area of focus over the next 18 months.

A New Day is a mix-and-match women’s brand that will take a female “from weekend to work to dinner date, effortlessly,” Target said. Goodfellow & Co. will be a fresher line of men’s clothing, accessories and shoes. In the athleisure space, the retailer has already seen success with its C9 Champion activewear, but anticipates Joy Lab will be more edgier and fashion-forward.

Lastly, Project 62 is being tagged by Target as a “modern home brand” that will feature chic options for shoppers’ everyday lives.

Elizabeth Holmes of The Wall Street Journal reports Target is trying to bring customers back to its stores:

Target Corp. is taking note and cleaning house, shedding some of its stalwart brands and launching more than a dozen new ones over the next 18 months in apparel and home furnishings. To make room, the men’s and women’s Merona line and men’s Mossimo offering will be phased out, having grown too big and homogenized to garner shoppers’ affection, executives say.

Faced with slumping sales and stiff competition from rivals, including Amazon, Target hopes the new launches will give shoppers a reason to come into its stores.

Each new brand has a defined personality and purpose, Target says, and isn’t a nondescript label. “People are looking for something that is more curated and meaningful to their specific lifestyle,” says Mark Tritton, Target’s chief merchandising officer. The goal is for A New Day, a more fashionable line of women’s classics, and Goodfellow & Co, a modern menswear collection, to make an emotional connection with shoppers—something Merona never was able to do.

Thomas Lee of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that Target wants to be more competitive with Amazon:

Target is best known for partnerships with designers like Jason Wu, Michael Graves and Missoni to create exclusive, limited-time assortments that quickly sell out. Target coined the term “cheap chic.” Stores were clean, spacious and well lit.

But two things happened: the Great Recession and Amazon.

The economic crisis from 2007 to 2009 has caused consumers to cut discretionary spending, which continues to hurt Target in key, profitable categories like clothing, accessories and furniture.

For low-margin but fast-selling food and household essentials, Target has lost market share to Walmart and Amazon, whose supply chains far outmatch their rival. Target’s Achilles’ heel has always been inventory: A common complaint is that shelves are frequently empty, and that stores constantly run out of things like bottled water and green bean casserole.

In some ways, Amazon has usurped the “Expect More” mantra from Target. While Target surprised shoppers with affordable luxury in apparel and home goods, Amazon has wowed customers with innovations like Amazon Prime.