“Target is not an ‘everything store,’” Says CEO , “That’s not what guests want from us.”

[Anonymous]

I used to shop at Target at least weekly. When they announced that transgender women were welcome in the ladies bathroom and changing rooms, I quit shopping there.

Mainly I was concerned about straight men who are predators who now could use this as an excuse to loiter where women are in vulnerable positions. I don't need that for myself or my daughter when we just want to buy some socks and bath towels.

Then a few years ago, Target offended the opposite side when they announced they were backing off DEI.

They shouldn't have done either announcement, because they ended up annoying a huge percentage of their loyal shoppers.

I shop there once in awhile when I can't find something elsewhere, and it is a pleasant environment with carts that roll smoothly and nice lighting. But now it's a few times a year instead of once a week.

And I'm left leaning, so I also don't frequent Hobby Lobby because I don't want to give my business to religious companies who are against birth control and gay people.

Shopping didn't use to be so political.

[Anonymous]

Target is white collar Walmart, always has been. It’s still an “everything store” it just needs to differentiate itself by being more pleasant to visit and by offering a more curated on-trend selection.

[Anonymous]

Target is trash. I haven't stepped foot in one in 10 years. The CEO is an idiot. He has no clue who his customer base is. They deserve the lack of customers.

[Anonymous]

Hmmm, I stopped shopping at target a few years ago, but I think that’s mostly due to the economy. Target was fun when I could find random things, but now with kids and prices going up everywhere, I do either Walmart or Amazon.

Target just seems to have the worst of all worlds - it’s big, crowded, and a pain to get in/out of like a Walmart, but the prices are quite high.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No busy mom wants a treasure hunt!
Yes, I want an everything store. An everything store with a nicer curated selection. It’s supposed to be a more upscale Walmart. This is what mothers everywhere want.

+1

Also ITA.

I don't have time for a "treasure hunt," and I'm not interested in that at this point in my life (best described as "exhausted, burnt-out 40-something mom with school-aged kids"). The women's clothes are almost uniformly TERRIBLE. Horrible styling, stupid trendy cuts, gross and unflattering colors, just awful. This started around 2020 and has somehow gotten worse. If I ever find something vaguely cute or useful in women's clothing, it doesn't fit right. This was not at all true 15-20 years ago, or even 10 years ago. I used to get really nice casual pants there, some nice tops, and I liked the Knox Rose line until they got rid of it.

I can still find good kids' clothing, but a lot of it is also too trendy and try-hard, with ugly colors my kids would never wear.

That said, I still shop there all the time. I live less than 10 minutes away, pickup is convenient, employees are generally competent, food prices are pretty good. But everything that made shopping at Target fun is over.

[Anonymous]

I used to buy clothes there but not anymore.
I just want high quality basics. Instead what they have there is low quality, uncomfortable, scratchy, strappy fast-fashion sort of stuff. Who exactly is their target demographic for their women’s clothes? My teen DD won’t wear anything from there.
I am tall and able to pull off some men’s clothes. I have bought some items out of the men’s section, which offers more comfortable and practical items, but I’d prefer to be able to buy some basic practical women’s items.
Instead, Uniqlo, Gap, and LL Bean get my business. All have gone downhill from what they used to be but still better value than Target.

[Anonymous]

During Target’s woke DEI years, I noticed a huge disconnect in its clothing offerings. The men’s section had comfortable, practical items. The women’s section, while huge, was full of crappy uncomfortable clothes with ridiculous cuts. Like feminism never happened.

[Anonymous]

Remember when Target did their big rearranging of stores (right around covid)? I think there was a thread here on it. My target was weirdly dark and everything was in the wrong place. They put it all back to order after that failure, like New Coke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Remember when Target did their big rearranging of stores (right around covid)? I think there was a thread here on it. My target was weirdly dark and everything was in the wrong place. They put it all back to order after that failure, like New Coke.

I don't have time to memorize a store's layout so I use the target app while shopping and it tells me exactly what aisle something is in. I do the same at Home Depot and my grocery store.

[Anonymous]

I think the CEO's sentiment is correct, but his communication skills are off. He should be using different words.

Target carries all the basics, plus some. Toilet paper, milk, deodorant, batteries, underwear, cereal. It has "everything" that you absolutely need. However it's not an "everything store" the way Walmart is. Walmart generally has a wider selection of things like household appliances (Target will carry 5 vacuums whereas Walmart will carry 20) or grocery items (Target will carry their house brand plus maybe the two most popular name brands whereas Walmart will carry like 8 kinds of yellow mustard).

The way this used to be described in the 00s and teens was that Target was a more "curated" shopping experience. That word is no longer fashionable but it's accurate. You get less selection at Target, but what you get is often more aesthetically pleasing. And the extra options at Walmart are often budget options (thus their lower prices overall). This is why Target got the rep for being an upscale Walmart -- because it was all the same categories of stuff, but only the "good" stuff. Sure you might pay a little more, but you were often paying for a better product.

With inflation that last part is no longer necessarily the case. Walmart now beats Target's prices on identical items regularly. I think this is partly to do with Walmart's vertically integrated supply chain, though I also think Walmart is underpricing certain essentials right now as a loss leader to capture bigger market share, as more consumers are becoming budget conscious and even UMC customers are willing to deal with the less appealing experience of shopping at Walmart if it means saving $20/week on groceries and other necessities. Online shopping and same day delivery also works to Walmart's benefit in this way -- you can easily comparison shop via apps and then go with the one that is cheaper, which is usually Walmart.

Anyway, I still get what the Target CEO is saying. He's not saying that Target doesn't carry the stuff you need -- they really do generally carry everything you need in terms of household supplies, groceries, office supplies, electronics, clothes, and stuff for kids. But the curate what they sell for a slightly upscale customer who is willing to spend a little more in order to have a nicer experience, and to avoid having to sift through a ton of budget options. The problem is that the current economy is shrinking the pool of customers who want that (or can afford it). But he's 100% right that this is Target's value-add. He's just saying it in a way that is annoying people because yes, of course what people want from Target is the convenience of getting a bunch of different necessities, and maybe a few nice-to-haves, in the same place at a reasonable price.

[Anonymous]

I promise that not one busy parent is going to Target for a "treasure hunt".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the CEO's sentiment is correct, but his communication skills are off. He should be using different words.

Target carries all the basics, plus some. Toilet paper, milk, deodorant, batteries, underwear, cereal. It has "everything" that you absolutely need. However it's not an "everything store" the way Walmart is. Walmart generally has a wider selection of things like household appliances (Target will carry 5 vacuums whereas Walmart will carry 20) or grocery items (Target will carry their house brand plus maybe the two most popular name brands whereas Walmart will carry like 8 kinds of yellow mustard).

The way this used to be described in the 00s and teens was that Target was a more "curated" shopping experience. That word is no longer fashionable but it's accurate. You get less selection at Target, but what you get is often more aesthetically pleasing. And the extra options at Walmart are often budget options (thus their lower prices overall). This is why Target got the rep for being an upscale Walmart -- because it was all the same categories of stuff, but only the "good" stuff. Sure you might pay a little more, but you were often paying for a better product.

With inflation that last part is no longer necessarily the case. Walmart now beats Target's prices on identical items regularly. I think this is partly to do with Walmart's vertically integrated supply chain, though I also think Walmart is underpricing certain essentials right now as a loss leader to capture bigger market share, as more consumers are becoming budget conscious and even UMC customers are willing to deal with the less appealing experience of shopping at Walmart if it means saving $20/week on groceries and other necessities. Online shopping and same day delivery also works to Walmart's benefit in this way -- you can easily comparison shop via apps and then go with the one that is cheaper, which is usually Walmart.

Anyway, I still get what the Target CEO is saying. He's not saying that Target doesn't carry the stuff you need -- they really do generally carry everything you need in terms of household supplies, groceries, office supplies, electronics, clothes, and stuff for kids. But the curate what they sell for a slightly upscale customer who is willing to spend a little more in order to have a nicer experience, and to avoid having to sift through a ton of budget options. The problem is that the current economy is shrinking the pool of customers who want that (or can afford it). But he's 100% right that this is Target's value-add. He's just saying it in a way that is annoying people because yes, of course what people want from Target is the convenience of getting a bunch of different necessities, and maybe a few nice-to-haves, in the same place at a reasonable price.

Except that Walmart is better at true basics for household items, and has more items in automotive, outdoors and camping, and hardware. Target’s selection seems like aesthetically pleasing items targeted towards UMC women and not salt of the earth DIYers. I guess I am sorta both (technically UMC and female but still very midwestern and frugal and DIY/outdoors oriented)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to shop at Target at least weekly. When they announced that transgender women were welcome in the ladies bathroom and changing rooms, I quit shopping there.

Mainly I was concerned about straight men who are predators who now could use this as an excuse to loiter where women are in vulnerable positions. I don't need that for myself or my daughter when we just want to buy some socks and bath towels.

Then a few years ago, Target offended the opposite side when they announced they were backing off DEI.

They shouldn't have done either announcement, because they ended up annoying a huge percentage of their loyal shoppers.

I shop there once in awhile when I can't find something elsewhere, and it is a pleasant environment with carts that roll smoothly and nice lighting. But now it's a few times a year instead of once a week.

And I'm left leaning, so I also don't frequent Hobby Lobby because I don't want to give my business to religious companies who are against birth control and gay people.

Shopping didn't use to be so political.

Oh for heaven's sake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:During Target’s woke DEI years, I noticed a huge disconnect in its clothing offerings. The men’s section had comfortable, practical items. The women’s section, while huge, was full of crappy uncomfortable clothes with ridiculous cuts. Like feminism never happened.

+1 like women have boxy shaped upper bodies! The clothes are now also for SUPER short people, tops too short, sleeves too short cut in a box shape. No thanks.

[Anonymous]

Target is just not a great store imo. If they want to be "special" then they need to have absolutely perfectly organized, pretty displays of beautiful items for a good price and make it fun to go from department to department, have enough items to make it feel like a big choice. But really Ulta is better for cosmetics with much bigger selection and still affordable, Home Goods for home stuff, clothing is not that great, groceries not good and overpriced + too few...There is no point for me going there.