Target has been looking to expand its stores in order to target people who live in major metropolitan areas. As part of this strategy, the retailer is opening smaller versions of its stores in some of the largest metropolitan areas in the US. The cities that have been targeted in this new expansion include Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago. Target wants to use the small sized stores to reach consumers who live in densely populated areas and may not be able to access some of the large Target stores in their cities.
The most defining feature of these new stores is the condensed size but they also have customized inventory and décor. Some stores will also be able to offer same day delivery to customers in these cities. Target confirmed that it’s investing in the small store format and by 2019 the retailer is hoping to open at least 75 locations across the US. Well, some of the stores have already started opening and just out of curiosity, we decided to visit some of them. Our first choice was the Herald Square store in New York City. Our objective was simple. We wanted to see how Target had reconfigured its megastores into an urban environment. We discovered a few things of note.
The first floor in the New York store highlighted the clothing line available in Target. Partner clothing lines were also displayed on the first floor. We managed to see a line from Print All Over Me. This is a company that was founded back in 2014 and it gives customers the opportunity to design and buy clothes with vibrant colors and accessories. We were also able to notice that the first floor also hosted A New Day, a women-only clothing line that was launched by Target back in August last year. The labels available under this line had one peculiar attribute. They appeared to be targeting young, trendy, and fashionable people who are likely to fall under the urban demographic.
At the entrance of the store, we saw a few items targeting local tourists. Herald Square is a popular destination in New York so it’s not a surprise that these items were right at the entrance. The Target store also had a grab and go section. This is a fresh and portable food section that allows customers to buy a quick snack or lunch and be on their way.
We finally decided to take the escalator down to the lower floor and all the Halloween gear was on full display. From costumes to Halloween candy, the lower floor had it all. We also saw a few greeting cards. There were some in-house brands too on the lower floor. The Simply Balanced pasta and sauce by Target, in particular, stood out. Nonetheless, there were plenty of local brands too on display. Finally, as we moved out we realized that the registers had actually been designed towards self-checkout. This is a very popular trend in retail and Target definitely needs it in its smaller urban stores.
