Target Corporation (doing business as Target and stylized as target) is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh largest retailer in the United States, and a component of the S&P 500 Index. Target was established as the discount division of Dayton’s department store of Minneapolis in 1962. It began expanding the store nationwide in the 1980s (as part of the Dayton-Hudson Corporation), and introduced new store formats under the Target brand in the 1990s. The company has found success as a cheap-chic player in the industry. The parent company was renamed Target Corporation in 2000, and divested itself of its last department store chains in 2004. It suffered from a massive, highly publicized security breach of customer credit card data and the failure of its short-lived Target Canada subsidiary in the early 2010s, but experienced revitalized success with its expansion in urban markets within the United States.

As of 2019, Target operates 1,931 stores throughout the United States, and is ranked number 37 on the 2020 Fortune 500 list of the largest U.S. corporations by total revenue. Their retail formats include the discount store Target, the hypermarket SuperTarget, and “small-format” stores previously named CityTarget and TargetExpress before being consolidated under the Target branding.

History of Target Corporation

The history of Target Corporation first began in 1902 by George Dayton. The company was originally named Goodfellow Dry Goods in June 1902 before being renamed the Dayton’s Dry Goods Company in 1903 and later the Dayton Company in 1910. The first Target store opened in Roseville, Minnesota in 1962 while the parent company was renamed the Dayton Corporation in 1967. It became the Dayton-Hudson Corporation after merging with the J.L. Hudson Company in 1969 and held ownership of several department store chains including Dayton’s, Hudson’s, Marshall Field’s, and Mervyn’s. In 2000, the Dayton-Hudson Corporation was renamed to Target Corporation.

Finances

Year	Revenue in mil. USD$	Net Income in mil. USD$	Total Assets in bil. USD$	Employees	Stores
2005	46,839	3,918	32,293	292,000	1,308
2006	52,620	2,408	34,995	338,000	1,397
2007	59,490	2,787	37,349	352,000	1,488
2008	63,637	2,849	44,560	366,000	1,591
2009	64,948	2,214	44,106	351,000	1,682
2010	65,357	2,488	44,533	351,000	1,740
2011	67,390	2,920	43,705	355,000	1,750
2012	69,865	2,929	46,630	365,000	1,763
2013	73,301	2,999	48,163	361,000	1,778
2014	71,279	1,971	44,553	366,000	1,917
2015	72,618	1,636	41,172	347,000	1,790
2016	73,785	3,363	40,262	341,000	1,792
2017	69,495	2,737	37,431	323,000	1,802
2018	71,879	2,934	38,999	345,000	1,822
2019	75,356	2,937	41,290	360,000	1,851
2020	78,112	3,281	42,779	368,000	1,904
2021	93,561	4,368	50,471	401,000	1,909

Carbon footprint

Target Corporation reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 2,192 Kt (−241 /-9.9% y-o-y).^[8] There has been a consistent declining trend in reported emissions since 2016.

Target Corporation’s annual Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) (in kilotons)

Dec 2017	Dec 2018	Dec 2019	Dec 2020
2,643[9]	2,592[10]	2,433[11]	2,192[8]

Store formats

Target

The first Target discount store opened in Roseville, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis–Saint Paul, on May 1, 1962.^[12] Present-day properties are roughly 135,000 square feet (12,500 m²) and sell general merchandise, including hardlines and softlines. While many Target stores follow a standard big-box architectural style, the company has focused on “customizing each new store to ensure a locally relevant experience […] that best fit the surrounding neighborhood’s needs” since August 2006. Initially, only SuperTarget locations operated Starbucks Coffee counters, although they were integrated into general-merchandise stores through their expanded partnership beginning in 2003.

Target introduced the “PFresh” store prototype in 2006, which expanded its grocery selection in general-merchandise locations by upwards of 200%. Newly constructed stores that follow the PFresh format are roughly 1,500 square feet (140 m²) larger than properties without groceries, although retain the Target branding because their offerings are considerably more limited than SuperTarget. PFresh sells perishable and frozen foods, baked goods, meat, and dairy. The company remodeled 109 stores accordingly in 2006, and renovated another 350 stores the following year. The company’s decision to close their garden centers opened floor space for PFresh expansion and larger seasonal departments beginning in 2010.

CVS Health

On June 15, 2015, CVS Health announced an agreement with Target to acquire all of Target’s pharmacies and clinic businesses for around $1.9 billion. The Target pharmacies were rebranded as CVS Health pharmacies, which totaled 1,672 pharmacies in February 2016. The Target clinics were also rebranded as MinuteClinic. The acquisition of the Target pharmacies enabled CVS to expand its market into Seattle, Denver, Portland, and Salt Lake City.

SuperTarget

The first Target Greatland location opened in Apple Valley, Minnesota, in September 1990. They were about 50% larger than traditional Target stores, and pioneered company standards, including an increased number of checkout lanes and price scanners, larger aisles, expanded pharmacy and photography departments, and a food court. Target Greatland locations have since been converted to stores following the PFresh format beginning in 2009.

The first SuperTarget hypermarket opened in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1995, and expanded upon the Target Greatland concept with the inclusion of a full grocery department. The company expanded their grocery assortment in 2003 and adopted the modified tagline “Eat Well. Pay Less.” (in reference to their tagline “Expect More. Pay Less.”) in 2004. In the early 2000s, 43 locations (of nearly 100) featured E-Trade trading stations, although they were all closed by June 2003 after E-Trade determined that “we were not able to make it into a profitable distribution channel.”

When comparing itself with rival Walmart Supercenter hypermarkets, then-chief executive Gregg Steinhafel opined that Walmart operates like “a grocer that happens to also sell general merchandise,” where in contrast, its less aggressive expansion of SuperTarget stores is indicative of their position that the grocery industry as a “high-impact, low-cost” side project. The company operated 239 SuperTarget locations as of September 2015; they each encompass an estimate of 174,000 square feet (16,200 m²).

In article written in August 2015, Target was quoted as saying “Big or small, our stores have one thing in common: they’re all Target.” Since then, newer stores have opened under the Target name.

Small-format Target

While typical Target locations are about 135,000 square feet (12,500 m²), the majority of “small-format” CityTarget stores are roughly 80,000 square feet (7,400 m²). The first stores were opened in July 2012, in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Seattle; the 160,000 square feet (15,000 m²) location in Boston is the largest CityTarget and opened in July 2015. TargetExpress stores hover around 14,000 to 21,000 square feet (1,300 to 2,000 m²); the first opened in Dinkytown near the University of Minnesota in July 2014. Products in these flexible-format properties are typically sold in smaller packages geared towards customers using public transportation. Locations built in college communities often carry an extended home department of apartment and dormitory furnishings. In August 2015, Target announced that it would rename its nine CityTarget and five TargetExpress stores as Target beginning that October, deciding that “Big or small, our stores have one thing in common: they’re all Target.” The first small-format stores under the unified naming scheme opened later that month in Chicago, Rosslyn, San Diego, and San Francisco. The company opened a 45,000 square feet (4,200 m²) store in the Tribeca neighborhood of New York in October 2016. In that same month, three other similar-sized stores opened in Philadelphia, Cupertino, California, and the area around Pennsylvania State University. Target opened a 22,000 square feet (2,000 m²) store in Austin’s Dobie Twenty21, adjacent to the UT Austin campus.

Nearly all of its planned openings through 2019 are small formats, which are less than 50,000 square feet (4,600 m²). The goal of these smaller-format stores is to win over the business of millennial customers. The nearly 30 new locations were to be situated in college towns or densely populated areas.

Brands and subsidiaries

As of 2018, Target has four subsidiaries: Target Brands, Inc., Target Capital Corporation, Target Enterprise, Inc., and Target General Merchandise, Inc.

Financial and Retail Services

Financial and Retail Services (FRS), formerly Target Financial Services, issues Target’s credit cards, known as the Target REDcard (formerly the Target Guest Card), issued through Target National Bank (formerly Retailers National Bank) for consumers and through Target Bank for businesses. FRS also oversees GiftCard balances. Target launched its PIN-x debit card, the Target Check Card, which was later rebranded the Target Debit Card. The Target Debit Card withdraws funds from the customer’s existing checking account, and allows for up to $40 “cash back”. The debit card allows guests to save 5% off each purchase. In late 2017, Target replaced its REDcard slogan, “Save 5% Today, Tomorrow, & Everyday with Target REDcard”, when it rolled out new benefits for REDcard holders by offering exclusive products on Target.com and preorders with “Everyday Savings. Exclusive Extras.”

Target Sourcing Services

This global sourcing organization locates merchandise from around the world for Target and helps import the merchandise to the United States. Such merchandise includes garments, furniture, bedding, and towels. Target Sourcing Services (TSS) has 27 full-service offices, 48 quality-control offices, and seven concessionaires located throughout the world. TSS employs 1,200 people. Its engineers are responsible for evaluating the factories that do business with Target Corporation for quality, labor rights, and transshipment issues. TSS was acquired by Target Corporation in 1998, was founded in 1916 as the Associated Merchandising Corporation, and was previously owned by the clients it served. TSS ceased operations in its department-store group, the division of the former Associated Merchandising Corporation that acted as a buying office for Saks, Inc., Bloomingdale’s, Stage Stores Inc., T.J.Maxx, and Marshalls

Website

Target.com owns and oversees the company’s e-commerce initiatives, such as the Target.com domain. Founded in early 2000 as target.direct, it was formed by separating the company’s existing e-commerce operations from its retailing division and combining it with its Rivertown Trading direct-marketing unit into a stand-alone subsidiary. In 2002, target.direct and Amazon.com’s subsidiary Amazon Enterprise Solutions created a partnership in which Amazon.com would provide order fulfillment and guest services for Target.com in exchange for fixed and variable fees. After the company sold Marshall Field’s and Mervyn’s in 2004, target.direct became Target.com. The domain target.com attracted at least 288 million visitors annually by 2008, according to a Compete.com survey. In August 2009, Target announced that they would build and manage a new Target.com platform, independent of Amazon.com. This new platform was to launch in 2011, in advance of the holiday season. Prior to the announcement, Target and Amazon had extended their partnership until 2011.In January 2010, Target announced their vendor partners for the re-platforming project. These partners include Sapient, IBM, Oracle, Endeca, Autonomy, Sterling Commerce, and Huge, among others. The re-platformed Target.com officially launched on August 23, 2011, effectively ending the partnership with Amazon.com.