Behind Target’s Physical Store Strategy
After opening 23 new stores in 2022, Target Corp. is sharing how the physical spaces help differentiate it and elevate the shopping experience for its customers. According to the retailer, its strategy hinges on building stores that work in – and for – the communities it serves.
New Target store openings in 2022 included a small-format store in Charleston, S.C., that serves the College of Charleston campus; a Times Square outpost in New York City; another small-format site in the hip Los Angeles neighborhood of Silver Lake; and many others.
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The retailer focused on unique design elements and embracing the neighborhood spirit in each of its new brick-and-mortar stores, and also kept an eye toward filling specific community needs. A 10,000-square-foot urban store in downtown Pittsburgh, for example, offers a wide assortment of groceries in an effort to help relieve what was considered a food desert in the area.
Target’s new large-store format was also on display in 2022 in the Texas city of Katy, and features a backroom fulfillment area that's five times larger than stores of similar size. The company plans to focus on this upsized store format in coming years, optimizing additional space in an effort to support same-day fulfillment services and deliver on its stores-as-hubs strategy for digital fulfillment.
“With our reimagined store design and larger store footprint that better supports our same-day services, we can give guests more of what they love while incorporating features that build on our commitment to sustainability, community and helping all families discover the joy of everyday life,” said John Mulligan, EVP and COO at Target, when the format was unveiled in November.
The retailer will continue opening stores of all sizes, but starting this year, more than half of Target’s approximately 200 full-store remodels and almost all of its estimated 30 new stores will include elements of the new design. Beginning in 2024, all of Target’s remodels and new stores will feature the majority of the new store design elements.
Target says this year will also bring more sortation centers where team members take orders packed in stores and sort them for local delivery. Nine of these facilities will be online early this year, with new sites in cities including Chicago and Denver.
Minneapolis-based Target Corp. is No. 6 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America, with nearly 2,000 locations.
