# Target (TGT)



## Belguy (May 24, 2010)

Here is the latest on Target's move into Canada. It looks like more competition for our grocery retailers:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/glob...ing-plans-for-canadian-launch/article2017436/


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

If they were smart they'd focus on GM. Competition in grocery is intense, and they don't have the best real estate.

Food is okay as a way to drive visits. Shoppers has had some success here (buying visits by selling food below cost). If you want to capture the weekly grocery shop of the typical suburban mom spending $250-$300, look out. Competition in that segment is fierce. Zellers already has some grocery and if I'm not mistaken some fresh in their stores, so I'm not sure how much of a difference in strategy this will be. Certainly Target is better at execution.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

DW thinks of Target as a cheap place to buy good clothes. That is why she shopped there in the US. For a special treat in food, she shops at Whole Foods.

I think they will discover that it is very costly to sell foods in Canada with French labels. So they need to compete in a high quality niche.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

^ I don't think french labelling is a significant problem in the food business. It means you can't leverage a cross-border food supply chain, but this hardly puts Target at a unique disadvantage.

Target ought to carry some staples and focus on their GM offering. That is where they can put the hurt on Wal-Mart in Canada. Wal-Mart is having a hard enough time scooping marketshare in food, I'm not convinced it makes sense for Target to bang their head against the wall in that area too.


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## Eder (Feb 16, 2011)

We spent 6 months in the US this winter/spring...My wife enjoyed shopping at Target but my straw pricing poll showed WalMart beats the pants off Target, Costco and even their own Sam's Club.

I don't get it.


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## Belguy (May 24, 2010)

Every grocery chain in Canada sells pretty much the same brands due to the limited number of Canadian manufacturers compared to the number of brands available in the U.S. The question that I would have for Target is will they sell the same limited number of Canadian brands or will they import more variety from the States? My suspicion is the former in which case one wonders how they plan to differentiate themselves.


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## I'm Howard (Oct 13, 2010)

I really hope they sell the 3 litres of wine for $14, I'm tired of goimg to the LCBO.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

They'd need to liberalize the market in Ontario for that to happen. If Target carries alcohol, so will every other store.


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## financialnoob (Feb 26, 2011)

Eder: From my experience, it's the brands/quality that differentiate Walmart from Target. 

You can get a pair of jeans at Walmart for $12, while Target will be $18. But Target's jeans will be a name brand, while Walmart's aren't. Some might argue it's all the same crap from China, and they probably wouldn't be wrong, but I think that's a major difference in the pricing.

There's some overlap between the two, and on that intersection, I think Walmart is a bit less. But I'd gladly shop at the Target over the Walmart for the nicer staff, much cleaner display, and fewer scary customers.


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

Target's real target is Walmart, with some possible collateral damage to Loblaws and other grocery chains. Zellers had been losing market share for years to Walmart and various big-box stores. Target believes they need a grocery department to compete with Walmart. Loblaws has been expanding it's household goods department for a while to fend off Walmart. In a similar vein Shopper's Drug Mart has expanded it's food section, driving "convenience stores" out of business. (Remember all the ubiquitous 7-11s/Mac's Milk/& Quickies? Where have they all gone?) 

I'm sorry to say that Canadian Tire has recently joined the fray by adding a few food items.

One of the frustrating aspects of shopping at Walmart (which I do only rarely) is going in for one non-grocery item and ending up in a cash register line behind a bunch of people doing their weekly grocery shopping.


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