Target Corporation

Target Corporation

Target Corporation currently is the third largest merchandise retailer in the United States. The history of Target dates back to the late 1800's when Joseph Hudson started one of the largest retail stores for men's clothing. With time the organization saw the value in retail and expanded its operations to cover a wider rage of service from clothing to small appliances to food. This was accomplished by operating under three separate chain stores each with a different area of focus. In the late 1900's Target Corporation realized that in order to remain competitive in the industry they know that it was vital that they tap into new markets. The structural change was quite successful so in 2000 all of the affiliated division operates under the Target Corporation name, while still keeping their separate identity.

Target is up against some heavy hitters in the industry; Wal-Mart and Kmart. While Kmart and Target have many similarities, from the store front like concept, to the open floor plans, Kmart stands out because of their merger with Sear. Unlike Target, K-mart made their merger with Sears public which increased their revenue potential. This merger gives K-mart the advantage because now they are able to bridge the mall and store-front concept together allowing both organizations to integrate their products.

In my opinion Wal-mart is the competitor that Target should concerned with because of the ability to force their competitor to step up to the plate or even dominate in some cases. For example, when the super centers were introduced Wal-mart was able to over power the industry for both food and clothing, making the one of its top food retailer step aside and make way.

With that in mind Wal-mart plans to open more stores until the industry is flooded with Wal-mart stores and supercenters. Target is exploring opening supercenters to remain competitive in this area which is a good move on their part.

The case study displays that Target is on the high end of the retail industry scale. While the products they sale are quality products, regardless of where they are located consumers will always be concerned with cost. An external factor that will affect Target's ability to expand is demographics, their ability to market in urban, ethic markets. Just on from my own experience, I chose to shop Wal-mart over Target because of cost. Target's merchandise is slightly higher than the Wal-mart's and the K-mart, while I must agree the products are better. Depending on their expansion area this can be a turn off to consumers, when they can simply go up the street and get it for less.

In order to determine this organizations internal strengths and weaknesses, I elected to use a SWOT analysis.

Strengths