Coverage: Target plans to remodel more stores

Target Corp. is stepping up its plan to remodel stores and push into more city centers, a bid to regain its cachet and fend off incursions by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.

Matthew Boyle of Bloomberg News had the story:

The retailer now plans to revamp more than 1,000 locations by the end of 2020, part of a sweeping overhaul of its operations. The Minneapolis-based company had previously said it was remodeling 600 stores by 2019.

The strategy includes opening dozens of smaller stores in places like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia — and pairing those locations with web-friendly services like same-day delivery. On Thursday, Chief Executive Officer Brian Cornell helped unveil a store in Manhattan’s Herald Square, its eighth in the Big Apple, not far from the Macy’s Inc. flagship.

“Guests are rewarding us with more traffic and we’re driving increased sales,” said Cornell, a New York native, said at the event. “It’s given us confidence to move forward aggressively.”

Target is opening 11 small-format stores this week to bring its total to 55, and it plans to have 130 nationwide by the end of 2019. The company also is rolling out its Restock program across the U.S. next year. That service lets customers have essentials like toothpaste delivered the next day, for a fee. Also coming next month is a new store brand: Hearth & Hand, a range of home-decor items designed in collaboration with Chip and Joanna Gaines, stars of the home-improvement reality show “Fixer Upper.”

Kavita Kumar of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that Target is using its stores as hubs to ship to customers:

While most of the growth in retail is happening online, Target executives emphasize that they’re also using their stores as hubs from which to more quickly and efficiently ship items to customers doorsteps.

Cornell met with reporters at one of Target’s newest stores — a 43,000-square-foot store opening Friday in Manhattan’s Herald Square, across from Macy’s flagship store and next to retailers such as Old Navy and H&M.

Cornell, who grew up in Queens, said Target has been dreaming of opening a store in this part of Manhattan that he called “arguably the epicenter of retail.” He recalled coming to Herald Square as a child to look at Christmas windows.

“For us now to be part of it is a really special day in Target’s history,” he said. “This is really a symbol of the future of the company.”

Courtney Reagan of CNBC.com reports that a new location in Manhattan is a prototype for the company:

Target has taken over a former Foot Locker store, directly across the street from Macy’s flagship Herald Square location. It’s one of three small format stores opening in and or near New York City, and one of 12 Target stores opening nationwide this week.

The two-story, 43,000-square-foot store — Target’s 55th small format store — showcases a key part of the discount retailer’s strategy. While other retailers like Macy’s and J.C. Penney close stores, Target is leaning into its physical footprint. The big box retailer has plans to open 130 small format stores by 2019.

Target hopes the smaller stores will make it easier for time-pressed shoppers to dart in and out, picking up their purchases. While this Herald Square site won’t quite fulfill the “city that never sleeps” slogan, it gets close. It will be open from 7 a.m. to midnight.

The new stores, and remodeling of existing stores, is all part of the retailer’s $7 billion, three-year investment strategy to improve its digital and physical store experience and efficiency.