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Target is winning back shoppers, especially online

Brian Cornell says Target's fifth consecutive quarter of traffic growth is evidence that the retailer is making good progress on its omnichannel capacity improvements. For the fourth quarter ended Jan. 30, same store sales at Target increased 1.9%, driven by traffic growth of 1.3%. This is Target's sixth consecutive quarter of rising same store sales. “With traffic growing and our signature categories leading our growth, Target’s results demonstrate that we are focused on the right strategic priorities,” said Cornell, chairman and CEO of Target. “I want to thank our teams across the company for giving our guests a great holiday season, driving consistent growth throughout the fourth quarter and delivering on the sales and profit goals we laid out at the beginning of the year. While we have made a great deal of progress in 2015, we are excited about the opportunity in front of us to provide a more seamless experience and accelerate profitable growth.” The retailer said sales in the Style, Baby, Kids and Wellness categories grew more than three times faster than the company average. But the big story in Target's results was the 34% jump in online sales. Target offered free shipping on all online orders for the holiday season for the second straight year. “A key takeaway from Target’s Q4 results in our view is the performance of its online business, which grew 34% year-over-year, and will likely lead the ‘brick-and-mortar' pack on a percentage growth basis for the period,” stated Moody’s lead retail analyst Charlie O’Shea. “As we saw throughout retail this holiday, promotions were impactful overall, with Target’s gross margin feeling the heat as it was down 60 bps year-over-year, however the company was able to more than make up for this drop with solid control of operating expenses. Going forward, we believe Target’s continuing efforts to strengthen its food business will resonate with consumers, and drive increased traffic through more frequent shopping visits.” Earlier this week Walmart reported a 0.6% increase in same store sales and e-commerce growth of only 8%, raising questions about how well it is fighting back at Target and Amazon. For the quarter, Target reported a profit of $1.43 billion, or $2.32 a share, up from a loss of $2.64 billion, or $4.10 a share, a year earlier. This includes the gain stemming from the sale of its pharmacy and clinic businesses. Revenue was $21.63 billion. For the full year, Target’s same store sales grew 2.1%, traffic increased 1.3% and adjusted EPS increased 11.3% to $4.69. Target returned $4.8 billion to shareholders in 2015 through dividends and share repurchases. Minneapolis-based Target Corp. operates 1,792 stores and at Target.com.

#Target

Target ups customer service ante with one-year return policy

http://www.startribune.com/business/296762941.html

Target Corp. announced Wednesday that it is extending its return policy on select items to one year, effective immediately.

The new policy applies to all of Target’s 32 private-label brands, such as Archer Farms, Liz Lange, Merona, Mossimo and Threshold. Items purchased for wedding, baby and college gift registries also are included.

#Target

Target layoffs will hit 1,700 today, with another 1,400 jobs going unfilled

Target Corp. cut 1,700 people at its corporate offices in the Twin Cities on Tuesday, the largest downsizing of its headquarters staff ever and the biggest at any Minnesota company since 2002.

The retailer’s top managers had set the company’s employees on edge a week before by announcing plans to cut “several thousand” corporate jobs. On Tuesday they lost no time in implementing their plan, with workers cut loose en masse.

Target then released a statement announcing the precise number of the layoffs. The company added that 1,400 open jobs would not be filled. The cuts amounted to 13 percent of the 13,000 HQ employees in the metro area. They come on top of the 550 corporate workers in the Twin Cities who were let go last month because of Target’s decision to close its Canadian operations.

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/295752841.html

#Target

Target lays off 550 in Twin Cities as fallout from Canada closing

The reverberations of Target Corp.’s exodus from Canada hit home Wednesday when about 550 employees in the Twin Cities were handed pink slips, the biggest reduction at its headquarters since 2009.

While painful, the layoffs were not unexpected. The company said last month that between 500 and 600 headquarters jobs that supported the Canadian operations could be eliminated as a result of the company’s decision to close all of its 133 stores in Canada, which had racked up more than $2 billion in losses in less than two years.

Wednesday’s action affected about 4 percent of Target’s 13,500 headquarters employees in the Twin Cities.

http://www.startribune.com/business/291525561.html

#Target

Target Canada closure: What you can expect

Target joined a growing list of retailers to close their stores in Canada after the U.S. chain obtained creditor protection on Thursday and announced it will halt its Canadian operations.

The announcement came less than two years after Target launched in Canada in March 2013. There are 133 stores across the country with about 17,600 employees.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/target-canada-closure-what-you-can-expect-1.2911902

#target canada

The newly-appointed president of Target’s troubled Canadian division is making it clear that customers there can expect to see some bold changes. Pronto.

Target announced Wednesday that it will begin testing its same-day delivery service in select stores in Boston, Miami, and Minneapolis next month. Within those cities, guests will be able to choose “Rush Delivery” on Minneapolis-based Target’s website, and for a $10 service charge they can receive packages that day—on orders placed before 1:30 p.m. Target is following suit with competitors like Walmart and Amazon, which already offer same-day delivery. “This is all about delivering products and services more flexibly—and serving guests on their terms by providing more options,” Jason Goldberger, senior vice president of Target.com and Target mobile, said in a statement. “With these new services and tests like ‘Rush Delivery,’ we’re gauging guest appetite and building internal capabilities and technologies that will make Target a leading omnichannel retailer.”

Target said it hopes to be able to learn a lot from its three-city pilot testing, which it said will “undoubtedly” have kinks. The rush delivery announcement follows another initiative Target started last year to blend its online and physical stores. In October, the company rolled out its store pickup option for online orders. Through that service, customers can purchase a product online and visit a store where it will be waiting for them to pick it up a few hours later. During a conference call with analysts Wednesday, Target’s interim President and CEO John Mulligan, who recently replaced ousted CEO Gregg Steinhafel, said the company is going to become more experimental and take bigger risks in the future, both in its digital and in-store businesses. The conference call followed Target’s recent first-quarter financial performance announcement, during which it reported a 16 percent loss.

#Target

Target announced Wednesday that its earnings for the first quarter dropped 16 percent as traffic to its stores fell for the sixth straight quarter. The Minneapolis-based retailer’s financial performance for the quarter was essentially in line with analysts’ low expectations, as last year’s data breach and its disappointing Canada expansion continue to plague the company. Interim President and CEO John Mulligan, who recently replaced ousted CEO Gregg Steinhafel, said in a conference call with analysts Wednesday that it’s too early to calculate the total cost of the data breach. That’s especially true as the company still faces more than 140 lawsuits filed by consumers, shareholders, and banks. However, the company said it recorded $61 million in pre-tax expenses related to the data breach in its fourth quarter.

#Target

Target Corp. said it has replaced the head of its struggling Canadian operations, naming 15-year company veteran Mark Schindele to succeed Tony Fisher as president of the division.

#target canada

The Twin Cities grocery market is about to get a major restocking as the owner of Rainbow Foods leaves town, a weak player in a crowded field.

Roundy’s Inc. will sell the majority of its 27 Rainbow stores to a consortium of local supermarket companies led by Eden Prairie-based Supervalu, owner of Cub Foods.

Once the $65 million deal is completed later this year, 10 Rainbow stores will be rebranded as Cub, two will become Byerly’s outlets and six will retain the Rainbow name under different ownership. Milwaukee-based Roundy’s will continue to market its remaining nine Rainbow stores for now, but will close them if buyers can’t be found.

The reordering of the local grocery market comes amid increasingly intense competition for traditional supermarket chains like Cub and Rainbow. Target, Wal-Mart and other lower-priced operators have eaten into their business, particularly since the recession of 2008.

#Supervalu

Sears Holdings Corp. might say goodbye to Canada. The U.S.-based retail chain, No. 5 in the Internet Retailer 2014 Top 500 Guide, says it might sell its majority stake in Sears Canada or sell “Sears Canada as a whole.”

Sears offered no further comment on today’s announcement except to say it “intends to engage an investment banking firm.”

#canada #sears

Wall Street’s enthusiasm for Target Corp. began to fade long before the data breach and CEO Gregg Steinhafel’s abrupt departure Monday.

A closer look shows that analyst support for the Minneapolis-based retailer started slipping as far back as August, shortly after the stock hit an all-time high of $73.50 in July. Shares fell another 3.7 percent Tuesday to $57.64, after dropping 3.5 percent Monday.

#Target

Target Corp.’s Gregg Steinhafel is eligible for approximately $26 million as he steps down from the top leadership position at the nation’s second-largest retailer.

The final number is dependent on the filing of the Minneapolis company’s annual proxy statement, which discloses pay for the previous year and severance under a variety of scenarios.

#Target

In an apparent effort to put breach woes behind it the retail chain announced Monday that Gregg Steinhafel had stepped down from his post as CEO

#Target

Although the Home Depot’s overall sales missed analysts' expectations, the retailer said the calendar shift, which resulted in one fewer week in the fourth quarter compared to the prior-year quarter, affected its results...

#HD

Target continues to cope with the fallout of a data breach, which, as expected, hurt the company’s fourth-quarter results. The company incurred $61 million in expenses related to the breach during the quarter, but was able to bring the total impact to $17 million after applying a $44 million insurance payment. But the retailer added that it is not only unable to estimate future expenses related to the data breach but also warned that those costs may adversely affect operations results in the first quarter and full-year 2014 and future periods. Expenses may include payments associated with potential claims by the payment card networks for alleged counterfeit fraud losses and non-ordinary course operating expenses (such as card re-issuance costs), REDcard fraud and card re-issuance expense, payments associated with civil litigation, governmental investigations and enforcement proceedings, expenses for legal, investigative and consulting fees and incremental expenses and capital investments for remediation activities. “For more than 50 years Target has succeeded by focusing on our guests,” said chairman, president and CEO Gregg Steinhafel. “During the first half of the fourth quarter, our guest-focused holiday merchandising and marketing plans drove better-than-expected sales. However, results softened meaningfully following our December announcement of a data breach. As we plan for the new fiscal year, we will continue to work tirelessly to win back the confidence of our guests and deliver irresistible merchandise and offers, and we are encouraged that sales trends have improved in recent weeks.” Net earnings dropped to $520 million from $961 million in the prior-year period. Sales decreased 6.6% to $20.9 billion from $22.4 billion last year, reflecting the impact of an additional accounting week in 2012 as well as a 2.5% decrease in comparable-store sales, partially offset by the contribution of new stores. Target operates 1,917 stores: 1,793 in the United States and 124 in Canada.

#Target

Shopko plans to open two new Shopko Hometown stores. The stores, which will average 36,000 sq. ft., are located in Mayville, Wis., and Valentine, Neb.

The Shopko Hometown retail format, developed to augment Shopko’s larger store model and focused on serving the needs of smaller rural communities, combines retail health services with a broad offering of national brands and high-value private label brands of apparel, home furnishings, toys, consumer electronics, seasonal items, every day consumable items and lawn and garden products.

The grand openings are planned for May 2014.

Shopko is owned by an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners.

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