Target Ahead of Target

By George Anderson

The back-to-school season has been very, very good to Target as the chain said it expected to see sales at its Target stores rise as much as six percent above its previous estimate
for September.

The chain had strong sales in holiday goods, shoes, consumables, perishables and children’s apparel. Sporting goods, intimate hosiery and men’s apparel sales were off.

Piper Jaffray senior research analyst Jeffrey Klinefelter told TheStreet.com,

“The above-plan performance during the first week of September is particularly encouraging, as the first week of the month is the most challenging comparison from the prior year.”

Moderator’s Comment: Where do you see the biggest opportunities/challenges for Target?

Two thoughts:

1. Target still hasn’t gotten food worked out. It will need to if it wants to drive consistent weekly traffic to its stores.


2. Some in the financial community advocate Target ridding itself of Mervyn’s and/or Marshall Field’s because they are a drag on total company performance.
   We’d like to suggest, however, that Target has been able to develop its fashion cache largely due to its department store heritage. Management needs to work out how to better
   run these businesses in the present business climate, not sell them. [George
   Anderson – Moderator]

• Target Offers Upbeat Sales Outlook – The Street