Content about Target

MINNEAPOLIS — Target reported second-quarter earnings per share of $1.03 that beat analysts’ estimates by a nickel, and the company elevated its full-year profit forecast amid ongoing success of key initiatives.

Retail sales increased 5.1% to $15.9 billion from $15.1 billion, thanks to a 3.9% same-store sales increase and the addition of several new stores. Operating profit for the retail business increased at a slower rate, rising 4.6% to about $1.15 billion from nearly $1.1 billion.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target is adding fresh, handmade food to its small-format store in Chicago, the mass merchandiser said.

Target announced that Pret A Manger would open a location inside the State Street CityTarget when the store opens next July. The London-based café chain sells sandwiches, soups, salads, coffee and other items, and operates stores in several U.S. and U.K. cities and Hong Kong.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target announced that 1,650 of its pharmacy locations, in addition to its clinics, are offering flu shots with no appointment necessary, effective Aug. 15.

Target pharmacists and clinicians at Target Clinic will administer flu shots during regular pharmacy and clinic hours — including evenings and weekends — for $25. This year's vaccine protects against seasonal flu, H1N1 and H3N2, another virus subtype that causes the flu, the company said.

MINNEAPOLIS — July same-store sales at Target rose 4.1% on top of a prior-year gain of 2%, with increased transaction size serving as the primary driver of an increase toward the upward end of the company’s guidance.

MINNEAPOLIS — Responding to customer feedback, Procter & Gamble announced that it has improved its Pampers Cruisers diaper line to include improved softness, a 20% longer absorbent patch and new "Sesame Street" designs.

"We are really excited to offer these new and improved diapers," said Tricia Higgins for Pampers external relations. "We have listened to what parents really like about our diapers and responded by adding those features, such as the softness from Swaddlers, to our Cruisers diapers, which are available in sizes 3 and 4."

Overdrive.


Increasingly, chains that traditionally have not been major forces in food retailing are making bigger commitments than ever to fresh — including meat, produce and dairy — in an effort not only to help solve the nation’s growing health crisis and expand Americans’ access to nutritious food options, but also to create new reasons for customers to shop their stores.


LA JOLLA, Calif. — Natural food company Bear Naked is giving consumers a boost with a new breakfast cereal.

Bear Naked Nut Cluster Crunch is a blend of hearty flakes and energy-dense, crunchy clusters made with toasted nuts, whole-grain oats and puffed wheat. The company said that the cereal, which is available in honey almond and maple nut varieties, was designed to give busy, active people the natural energy they need to make the most of their morning.

OTC supplier Help Remedies is trying to break through the brands at Duane Reade and Target. Drug Store News sat down with Help visionary and CEO Richard Fine to discuss branding.


Drug Store News: What is the Help Remedies proposition?


NEW YORK — Target’s board has finalized the decision to locate the company’s Canadian headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario, said president, chairman and CEO Gregg Steinhafel at a shareholders meeting in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target has unveiled the first wave of the Zellers sites it will be taking over in Canada, representing 105 locations in all 10 Canadian provinces.

The vast majority of the sites will become Target stores after securing the necessary construction approval for extensive renovation. The stores will open beginning in 2013.

NEW YORK — To better connect with today's beauty consumers, mass market retailers should consider implementing a multisensory playground or a "BeautySphere," engaging them with a calendar of in-store pop-up activities and implementing a "roving endcap" as a cost-effective way to execute new ideas and highlight new products. Those were just some of the ideas that emerged Thursday evening during the Fashion Institute of Technology Class of 2011 Capstone presentations and graduation reception in New York.

NEW YORK — Target plans to spend more than it had forecast this year on its entry into the Canadian market as it nails down more of the best retail locations sooner than expected.

The retailer said it will be able to “clarify” within weeks the number and locations of the first 100 to 150 stores it will open in Canada.

“We expect to close on higher value lease transactions sooner than expected,” Target CFO Doug Scovanner told analysts on a conference call Wednesday.