Target's New Larger Format Stores a Challenge to Walmart, If The Economy Holds Up

Target's New Larger Format Stores a Challenge to Walmart, If The Economy Holds Up

The highlights I reviewed from their press release:

- Cleaner

- More Open

- More Same-Day Services

- More Convenient

- Better Back-room Fulfillment

- More Space for Brand Partnerships

- Wider Assortment

Sounds like the formula for a modern store I would want to visit, and if the economy holds up, it should work out for them. 150k sq ft stores, which while 20k larger than the chain average, is about 3-5x larger than the stores they have been consistently building since before the pandemic -- around 30k, but those were mostly in urban areas.

Make no mistake, this is a big change in strategy. With it, which one of these things do you think they are saying?

- Our primary urban centers are mostly taken care of.

- We see more people continuing to migrate to suburbs over time, and away from the big cities.

- We don't see anyone who delivers our experience in the suburbs.

- People see large retailers like Target more as "the mall" these days and we need more space for assortment and new brand partnerships

Perhaps some of all of these?

I think it's most intriguing that this gives them space for assortment expansion (CPG in particular) and other brand partnerships that will help get shoppers in the door, and more frequently.

Rick Watson

Rick Watson founded RMW Commerce Consulting after spending 20+ years as a technology entrepreneur and operator exclusively in the eCommerce industry with companies like ChannelAdvisor, BarnesandNoble.com, Merchantry, and Pitney Bowes.

Watson’s work today is centered on supporting investors and management teams incubating and growing direct-to-consumer businesses. Most recently, in partnership with WHP Global, Rick was a critical resource in architecting the WHP+ platform, a new turnkey direct to consumer digital e-commerce platform that powers AnneKlein.com and JosephAbboud.com.

Watson also hosts a weekly podcast, Watson Weekly, where he shares an unbiased, unfiltered expert take on the retail sector’s biggest players.

In the past year alone, Rick has spoken at many in-person and virtual events as well as podcasts on topics ranging from retail/ecom to supply chain/logistics and even digital grocery including CommerceNext IRL, ASCM Connect, and Retail Innovation Conference.

https://www.rmwcommerce.com/
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