It seems that Target doesn’t want to sit on its laurels.
Yesterday, Jennette wrote about two moves from Target. Specifically, she noted that the company hired executives that had previously worked at Walmart and General Mills to bolster its food and beverage offerings. Former Walmart executive Mark Kenny was named vice president divisional, meat and fresh prepared food, while former General Mills executive Liz Nordlie was named vice president, product design and development for food and beverage. Additionally, the company acquired transportation technology company Grand Junction to improve its delivery services and supply chain. To read more about that, you can check out her blog post from yesterday.
Today, I bring you more news on the Target front. The company expanded its Restock delivery service to the Dallas-Fort Worth, TX, and Denver, CO, markets. Additionally, the chain will expand the assortment of products available through the service, make deliveries on Saturday and open the test to all customers, not just Target REDcard holders.
It would appear that the acquisition of Grand Junction is giving the company more confidence in its delivery options, and I would be very surprised if the company doesn’t continue to expand this offering to other major markets. After all, it will need to if it wishes to compete, as click-and-collect and grocery delivery are becoming staples for any food retailer.
Meanwhile, the company will remodel 300 stores in 2018, up from the planned 250, in addition to 110 in 2017. In total, the retailer is planning to overhaul more than a third of its 1,800 stores in the next few years, reported Minneapolis Star Tribune (Aug. 16). The idea behind these remodels were unveiled by the company in March. In essence, the company wants to make their stores more pick-up friendly, inviting and technology driven.
Considering the company’s recent struggles, the news that the company’s same-store sales rose 1.3% in the last quarter after four consecutive quarterly sales declines was surely welcome news to the executive team. That rise, driven by 32% growth in online sales, showcases that the company’s focus on delivery, technology and pickup services will likely help them in the quarters to come.