The success and failure of Canadian Target

I visited Target on a Monday, at 10 a.m. to figure out a few things on the success and failure of the Canadian version of the big chain.

When I say Canadian, this specificity is imperative because Target in Canada is NOT the same as Target in the U.S.

This is coincidentally also one of the Canadian Target’s biggest criticisms.

Who I expected to see on a Monday morning and whom I saw was more or less the same: elderly mall-walkers and moms’ with kids.

Of course there was also an influx of people my age, but this was also due to the fact that the majority of the people my age were from my advertising class.

I visited the Target on Grant and I found it is surprisingly small. I’ve been to Target in Fargo multiple times and it’s like Costco—overwhelming, but awesome.

This Target’s also crammed many things into it like a tiny grocer, furniture, appliances, clothing and makeup/bathroom/hygienic products. However, despite the amount of selection in the store, I wouldn’t describe it as feeling crammed.

One excellent thing about Target is the fact that it displays its products. In the kitchen appliance section, I saw all of the cake-pop, waffle and Panini makers on full display, which other places like Walmart do not do.

Costco does, but you need a membership and as a student I say, “Ain’t nobody got time for that.”

One interesting decision on Target’s part—and I’ve heard other Targets in the city have done—is place its Valentine’s Day display in the back.

I’ll give Target some form of credit for giving people directions to the display, but shouldn’t a seasonal display such as this be presented at the front of the store?

I mean Valentine’s Day is such a money-grab! This seems counterproductive.

According to a Target employee, Target’s opening was insane, but has since died down. Not due to disappointment, which she didn’t point out, but implied, but due to it being after Christmas and business is generally slower.

 

If I was to predict the success or failure of Target, I would predict more failure unless Target begins to offer the reasons that Canadians love Target so much in the U.S..

And that’s Vanilla Coke and couture designers who release inexpensive lines through Target.

All right. That’s just me.

Although one woman, who was paying at the cash register pointed out that Target didn’t have what she was looking for and now, rather reluctantly, had to go to Walmart.

So maybe there’s some success and now it’s just straddling the line of mediocrity.