Target Corporation Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Target Corporation - Case Study Example After SWOT analysis the report contains analysis of macro environment of the company which includes details about its economy, culture, politics and technology. The overall report is followed by a conclusion stating what has been mentioned and discussed in the report. Introduction Target Corporation, an American retailing company with its headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota is among the second largest discount providing retailer after Wal-Mart in United States. It was founded in the year 1902 and characterized as the Dayton Dry Goods Company and also one of the first Target stores which have been opened near Roseville, Minnesota in 1962. It operates 1556 stores in 47 states. Target stores, Mervyn’s and Marshall Field’s were the three main retail divisions of Target which was formerly known as Dayton Hudson Corporation. It offered fashion conscious upscale products at affordable price thus distinguishing itself from competitors. Hudson’s and Marshall’s w ere department stores offering sophisticated costly products to the mooned customers while Target and Mervyn’s offering apparel and recreational items to the budget conscious customers. Target received America’s Corporate Conscience Award in 1989 and contributed over $2 million to the communities where the stores were located (ABOUT, 2012). Target continued to be the biggest money maker of Dayton Hudson’s Corporation in 21st century with a successful business mix of trendy merchandise and easy to navigate quality stores. Fifty expanded Target Great land stores were open in 1990 which was combined by general merchandise mix with grocery store. The Target Guest Card which is the first store credit card was introduced in 1995 which attracted around nine million accounts by 1998. With the growth of Target and being the largest division of Dayton Hudson Corporation the company was then renamed in August 2000 as Target Corporation. In 2002 Target generated 84 percent of fiscal revenue from 1225 stores located in 47 states. In 2010 it was ranked at number 33 in Fortune 500 companies. It is also a component of Standard & Poor’s 500 index. Target Corporation expanded business in Canada in January 2011. By 2013 it plans to operate 100 to 150 stores in Canada (ABOUT, 2012). The mission of Target Corporation is to provide outstanding value, exceptional guest experience through continuous innovation while fulfilling Except More, Pay Less promise and become the preferred shopping destination for guests. Positioning of Target Corporation was based on quality, style, trend and not just pricing. Today Target operates more than 1600 outlets in 47 States which includes grocery shopping, photo processing centers, pharmacies, food avenues, in-store bakery, deli, and meat and production section. Target Corporation used attractive promotional strategies for advertisement and became the second largest discount retailer in United States by 2002. Main compet itors of Target were Wal-Mart and K-Mart. When K-Mart declared bankruptcy the only competitor for Target remains Wal-Mart is one of the retailers which leads the market and industry in terms of sales and size. Target Corporation’s key element of success was its ability of communicating effectively the unique position of company through