MEGATHREAD 2018-2019 Store Modernization Megathread

[Overadecade]

I don't see why people are so ecstatic to have target fail. And don't be a condescending ass you know good and well I was referring to our brand launches such as project 62, stars above and colise which all have been performing well not to mention partnerships like H&H.

Project 62 was literally just putting the Threshhold items into new boxes, something Target does a lot when the old brands sales start to flag, or they get a negative connotation to them.
And Target and Walmart don't share a demographic...? Seriously?

 

[greatteam]

The guy who is in charge of and developed this modernization bullshit is from Amazon and Kmart. I thought we were becoming a bit too like them lately. It's a shame he doesn't realize that Amazons staffing attitude isn't going to work for Target.

 

[Llamanatee]

The guy who is in charge of and developed this modernization bullshit is from Amazon and Kmart. I thought we were becoming a bit too like them lately. It's a shame he doesn't realize that Amazons staffing attitude isn't going to work for Target.

Funny, as I walked around our store the other day I had a flashback and thought I was in a Kmart. Makes sense now.

 

[Goat]

Furthermore Target and Walmart don't even share a demographic.

 

[Goat]

Target and Wal-Mart don't share a demographic? 😂😂😂😂
Congratulations in making yourself irrelevant in this thread.

 

[oath2order]

Pointing out that Target is way behind where it needs to be in online grocery shopping =/= estatic to have Target fail. Far from it.

I'm sorry, but none of the brands that you mention make a whit of difference in my store's online sales. Market, Chemicals, Paper, HBA, Diapers, Baby, Beauty. Those are my leaders followed by plastics and infant clothing, which Cat & Jack benefits from but is that the brand or the simple fact that moms make up a large percentage of our online orderers and that's just the biggest brand we sell?

As always, the one thing I don't think people remember often enough.

ASANTS

 

[oath2order]

It's Target leadership that didn't get the memo there. Target and WalMart are both discount retailers. They need to cut costs in order to remain relevant, because the price of their product is ultimately what matters -- not having knowledgeable or annoyingly helpful TMs around during the day or fancy displays. All guests care about is whether we're selling what they want, and what it's going to cost them.

This whole "Expert, Advocate, and Consultant" thing is useless. VMGs are useless. Paying a VM to make mannequins look fancy, arrange VMGs, or adjust track lighting is a waste of payroll. The people who shop at Target do not care about that stuff. It's especially annoying with the quantity limitation we have. Why are we only putting 1 or 2 pairs of each size of clothing on the floor? Why do we have a capacity of 1 or 2 on product when 3-4 can fit? It's a massive waste of space, and it's not going to make most guests think they just need to have those things. When they get to the store and see what they wanted isn't on the floor, they're going to leave. Most aren't going to find a TM to ask them for more, they're just going to go to another store. That's what I do. Fuck interacting with TMs. That's not what I want to do when I shop. People are growing increasingly antisocial, numerous studies have shown that. So why are we keeping most of our product in the back instead of actually on the floor for people to buy? Why are we forcing TMs on them as though they were a middleman in an exchange that doesn't need one?

Is the 1-2 pairs thing still actually something that's going on? My store doesn't do it.

 

[Black Sheep 214]

I don't see why people are so ecstatic to have target fail.

Perhaps it’s not so much that people are ecstatic to see Target fail as that they recognize that a company that is going down the wrong path like lemmings rushing into the sea, refusing to change failing processes, suppressing all dissent, pushing out too many of it’s experienced team members and treating those who remain like crap will not succeed.

 

[gsa4lyfe]

It's Target leadership that didn't get the memo there. Target and WalMart are both discount retailers. They need to cut costs in order to remain relevant, because the price of their product is ultimately what matters -- not having knowledgeable or annoyingly helpful TMs around during the day or fancy displays. All guests care about is whether we're selling what they want, and what it's going to cost them.

This whole "Expert, Advocate, and Consultant" thing is useless. VMGs are useless. Paying a VM to make mannequins look fancy, arrange VMGs, or adjust track lighting is a waste of payroll. The people who shop at Target do not care about that stuff. It's especially annoying with the quantity limitation we have. Why are we only putting 1 or 2 pairs of each size of clothing on the floor? Why do we have a capacity of 1 or 2 on product when 3-4 can fit? It's a massive waste of space, and it's not going to make most guests think they just need to have those things. When they get to the store and see what they wanted isn't on the floor, they're going to leave. Most aren't going to find a TM to ask them for more, they're just going to go to another store. That's what I do. Fuck interacting with TMs. That's not what I want to do when I shop. People are growing increasingly antisocial, numerous studies have shown that. So why are we keeping most of our product in the back instead of actually on the floor for people to buy? Why are we forcing TMs on them as though they were a middleman in an exchange that doesn't need one?

While I agree with some thing you said, the soft lines stuff I’d have to disagree with. Target clothing (and most things at target tbh) is not something some you need and most people don’t shop softlines as a need more than once or twice a year. Sure there’s back to school and Christmas and the occasional need for new pants or something like that but for the majority of our sales in softlines, it comes as an impulse buy. I’ve never walked into Walmart, TjMaxx, or any other off brand retailer for something I needed and impulse bought a piece of clothing. Target on the other hand (most of the time) is way more shop-able and appealing to the impulse shoppers. The fancy mannequins, track lighting and non over pushed tables and convertibles definitely does drive sales. We made the highest return on investment in clothing so obviously target is more apt to invest more money in the softlines realm. My old Group Vice President always used to say we’re a clothing store that sells tide not a tide store that sells clothing.

 

[seasonaldude]

While I agree with some thing you said, the soft lines stuff I’d have to disagree with. Target clothing (and most things at target tbh) is not something some you need and most people don’t shop softlines as a need more than once or twice a year. Sure there’s back to school and Christmas and the occasional need for new pants or something like that but for the majority of our sales in softlines, it comes as an impulse buy. I’ve never walked into Walmart, TjMaxx, or any other off brand retailer for something I needed and impulse bought a piece of clothing. Target on the other hand (most of the time) is way more shop-able and appealing to the impulse shoppers. The fancy mannequins, track lighting and non over pushed tables and convertibles definitely does drive sales. We made the highest return on investment in clothing so obviously target is more apt to invest more money in the softlines realm. My old Group Vice President always used to say we’re a clothing store that sells tide not a tide store that sells clothing.

If people are coming into buy Tide, then we're a Tide store that is also pretty good at getting women to impulse buy clothing. (Not trying to be sexist, it's just that's who buys the overwhelming majority of Target clothing.) Yes, Target wants to see itself as a clothing store and its spent decades selling itself as being more stylish with higher quality then the competition. That's the carefully crafted self-image. But, we're a Tide store if that's what they're walking in the door to purchase.Take away the Tide and they aren't going to come in and discover that perfect black tank. Take away the tank, and well they still need the Tide.

Impulse buying is good for the bottom line, but not as good as a superficial glance at sales would indicate. Target has to pay people to handle the constant return churn it generates. The constant stream of women with their Target bags full of clothes at the service desk aren't going to take care of themselves. I am curious to see where this all goes with increasing pushing of drive up. One of the most common reasons guests tell me they like drive up is that stops them from going into the store and buying more than they need. It's second only to not having to get the kids out of the car and then back in it.

 

[gsa4lyfe]

If people are coming into buy Tide, then we're a Tide store that is also pretty good at getting women to impulse buy clothing. (Not trying to be sexist, it's just that's who buys the overwhelming majority of Target clothing.) Yes, Target wants to see itself as a clothing store and its spent decades selling itself as being more stylish with higher quality then the competition. That's the carefully crafted self-image. But, we're a Tide store if that's what they're walking in the door to purchase.Take away the Tide and they aren't going to come in and discover that perfect black tank. Take away the tank, and well they still need the Tide.

Impulse buying is good for the bottom line, but not as good as a superficial glance at sales would indicate. Target has to pay people to handle the constant return churn it generates. The constant stream of women with their Target bags full of clothes at the service desk aren't going to take care of themselves. I am curious to see where this all goes with increasing pushing of drive up. One of the most common reasons guests tell me they like drive up is that stops them from going into the store and buying more than they need. It's second only to not having to get the kids out of the car and then back in it.

Drive up reaches a different group of people. The people who come to target to shop around still come in and do it. I think drive up grabs that people that typically would just go to the grocery store and somewhere quick but choose target for the quickness that drive up offers

 

[YourfriendlyTL]

Target and Wal-Mart don't share a demographic? 😂😂😂😂
Congratulations in making yourself irrelevant in this thread.

I think you misunderstand Target doesn't want to be the other discount retailer they want to be the place you go for exclusives like with the brand launches. And on average target's demographic is younger and makes between 15 - 20k more annually than the average Walmart shopper pointing towards a more upper middle class demographic.Other than age and income status target vs walmart shoppers have vast political and generational divides.Feel free to provide counter points. I've place my sources below.

This is what the average Walmart shopper looks like

We break down the demographics of shoppers at Walmart, Target, Kohl's, Kmart, and Aldi.

amp.businessinsider.com

Walmart vs. Target: A Political Divide Among Shoppers

Walmart is more popular among Republican shoppers, while Target does better with Democrats, according to Morning Consult’s Most Polarizing Brands data.

morningconsult.com

 

[YourfriendlyTL]

Perhaps it’s not so much that people are ecstatic to see Target fail as that they recognize that a company that is going down the wrong path like lemmings rushing into the sea, refusing to change failing processes, suppressing all dissent, pushing out too many of it’s experienced team members and treating those who remain like crap will not succeed.

I do concede that their disinterest in feedback about modernization is not ideal I personally do believe that modernization with full ownership of individual areas is the correct direction as a company. But at that point it gets to a point of just that personal opinion.

 

[oath2order]

I think you misunderstand Target doesn't want to be the other discount retailer they want to be the place you go for exclusives like with the brand launches. And on average target's demographic is younger and makes between 15 - 20k more annually than the average Walmart shopper pointing towards a more upper middle class demographic.Other than age and income status target vs walmart shoppers have vast political and generational divides.Feel free to provide counter points. I've place my sources below.

This is what the average Walmart shopper looks like

We break down the demographics of shoppers at Walmart, Target, Kohl's, Kmart, and Aldi.

amp.businessinsider.com

Walmart vs. Target: A Political Divide Among Shoppers

Walmart is more popular among Republican shoppers, while Target does better with Democrats, according to Morning Consult’s Most Polarizing Brands data.

morningconsult.com

An interesting read. Target wants to market towards young millennial women in order to build a solid base of shoppers.

 

[YourfriendlyTL]

Project 62 was literally just putting the Threshhold items into new boxes, something Target does a lot when the old brands sales start to flag, or they get a negative connotation to them.
And Target and Walmart don't share a demographic...? Seriously?

As I stated above with sources there are large differences between Target and Walmart shopper demographics. And you side stepped my main point besides Project 62 and made by design their lines Cat and Jack, Colise, Stars above and Wild fable are all new and unique brands seprated from the old ones just to name a few.

 

[YourfriendlyTL]

An interesting read. Target wants to market towards young millennial women in order to build a solid base of shoppers.

Thanks for taking the time to read it! I think that's where my point is being lost on some people. I'm not saying target isn't a discount retailer they definitely are but they are striving to be (don't hate me ) Taŕget with a unique atmosphere and standalone brands that resonate with millenials and gen x women and are focusing on things that appeal to that demographic such as being progressive in things of inclusion such as large expansion of plus sizes and even the full sizes and ages of women in the new intimates ISM launches.

 

[seasonaldude]

Drive up reaches a different group of people. The people who come to target to shop around still come in and do it. I think drive up grabs that people that typically would just go to the grocery store and somewhere quick but choose target for the quickness that drive up offers

Well, that's not what my guests tell me. Yes, there are some drive up guests who are as you describe. The majority, and the one's who order the most eaches, are the same people who would otherwise come into the store. ASANTS, I suppose. But, not going into the store and buying more than they need is what they commonly tell me when they say why they love the service. We're generally talking women in their late 20 or 30s here. I.e., the same target demographic for most of our apparel brands.

 

[gsa4lyfe]

Well, that's not what my guests tell me. Yes, there are some drive up guests who are as you describe. The majority, and the one's who order the most eaches, are the same people who would otherwise come into the store. ASANTS, I suppose. But, not going into the store and buying more than they need is what they commonly tell me when they say why they love the service. We're generally talking women in their late 20 or 30s here. I.e., the same target demographic for most of our apparel brands.

I guess it’s definitely am ASANTS because the two stores I’ve work at have both been in busy towns and it’s always that busy guest who doesn’t typically shop in the store. It’s a way to capture those sales that typically wouldn’t shop at target, at least at the stores I’ve been to.

 

[Overadecade]

As I stated above with sources there are large differences between Target and Walmart shopper demographics. And you side stepped my main point besides Project 62 and made by design their lines Cat and Jack, Colise, Stars above and Wild fable are all new and unique brands seprated from the old ones just to name a few.

Cat and Jack clothes came in with Circo tags on them for months after launch.
A LOT of what Target has done that has been successful has been rebranding, interestingly enough.
A lot of the stuff that's failed hard has been the "new" stuff, like most of their limited partnerships, and getting into clothing lines that the demographic doesn't support (OU the best current example, and WF to a lesser extent. Every single Junk Food set.)
These are the kinds of things that worry me, as there's often a huge buy in to stuff that likely loses a lot of money.
It makes me think Target doesn't actually understand its demographic.
And, like people have said, after a half dozen trips to the store where the shelves are empty of the commodities that they came for, and they have to go to Walmart or the grocer, they're not going to show up to browse those high mark up categories.

 

[seasonaldude]

I guess it’s definitely am ASANTS because the two stores I’ve work at have both been in busy towns and it’s always that busy guest who doesn’t typically shop in the store. It’s a way to capture those sales that typically wouldn’t shop at target, at least at the stores I’ve been to.

Interesting. We get some of that, but those are one off orders. The guys who order two packs of batteries or whatever. The majority of my drive-ups are repeat customers who meet that sweet spot for the Target demographic. I know many of them by the contents of their orders, such as the woman who no matter what else she orders (10-12 eaches 2-3 times a week) always orders a bag of Veggie Chips and a box of Larabars. Mid-30s I'd guess. LOVES drive up because she doesn't have to take the kids out of the car and deal with them in a store. Her regular shopping no longer takes an hour. It's what it says on the pick-up bag: Target Run and Done.

 

[Overadecade]

I do concede that their disinterest in feedback about modernization is not ideal I personally do believe that modernization with full ownership of individual areas is the correct direction as a company. But at that point it gets to a point of just that personal opinion.

It's a great idea for a company that is willing to devote the payroll and incentives to make the process work.
It's absolutely the wrong idea for a company that's only going to schedule 1 GM and 1 SL TM at a time, so when you come in to work your area on your next shift, you have 3 days worth of freight rolled over while you're trying to do your POGs and Price Changes in 4 hours.

 

[gsa4lyfe]

Interesting. We get some of that, but those are one off orders. The guys who order two packs of batteries or whatever. The majority of my drive-ups are repeat customers who meet that sweet spot for the Target demographic. I know many of them by the contents of their orders, such as the woman who no matter what else she orders (10-12 eaches 2-3 times a week) always orders a bag of Veggie Chips and a box of Larabars. Mid-30s I'd guess. LOVES drive up because she doesn't have to take the kids out of the car and deal with them in a store. Her regular shopping no longer takes an hour. It's what it says on the pick-up bag: Target Run and Done.

The mid 30s mom shopping with two kids doesn’t typically do a lot of impulse buys as it is. It’s moms that come in when the kids are at school that have time to wonder around that typically buy more than they need so idk just my opinion

 

[SFSunicorn]

Found out my store won’t have any Inbound Operations ETL and also no Fulfillment Operations TL as always. I was hoping to drink the Kool aid since throughout the whole Q4 i was the trainer & captain for the Flex process. We have sooo much ETLs and TLs since were high volume but funny shyt is they gave up entirely the whole Logistics process. ETL Specialty Sales, ETL S&E, ETL HR, ETL AP, ETL General Merch & Food Sales, Another ETL SS Style.. 6 General Merch TL fken insane my store thinks they’ll get owned in hardlines so that’s why so much business owners 1 Food TL 1 Food service. 6 Specialty Sales TL 3 each ETL. 2 S&E TL 1 Closing TL AP TL.

How many pack stations does your SFS part of fullfillment have? I'm trying to gauge if there is any chance we'll get our TL position back or not.

 

[seasonaldude]

The mid 30s mom shopping with two kids doesn’t typically do a lot of impulse buys as it is. It’s moms that come in when the kids are at school that have time to wonder around that typically buy more than they need so idk just my opinion

Yeah, it's just completely different at my store. Those moms come in my store when their kids are too you for school, or after school if their kids are older. They spend a long time in the store wandering around (R.I.P. toys zone) and picking up whatever meets their fancy. Definitely our largest demogaphic.

 

[Ashfromoldsite]

It's Target leadership that didn't get the memo there. Target and WalMart are both discount retailers. They need to cut costs in order to remain relevant, because the price of their product is ultimately what matters -- not having knowledgeable or annoyingly helpful TMs around during the day or fancy displays. All guests care about is whether we're selling what they want, and what it's going to cost them.

This whole "Expert, Advocate, and Consultant" thing is useless. VMGs are useless. Paying a VM to make mannequins look fancy, arrange VMGs, or adjust track lighting is a waste of payroll. The people who shop at Target do not care about that stuff. It's especially annoying with the quantity limitation we have. Why are we only putting 1 or 2 pairs of each size of clothing on the floor? Why do we have a capacity of 1 or 2 on product when 3-4 can fit? It's a massive waste of space, and it's not going to make most guests think they just need to have those things. When they get to the store and see what they wanted isn't on the floor, they're going to leave. Most aren't going to find a TM to ask them for more, they're just going to go to another store. That's what I do. Fuck interacting with TMs. That's not what I want to do when I shop. People are growing increasingly antisocial, numerous studies have shown that. So why are we keeping most of our product in the back instead of actually on the floor for people to buy? Why are we forcing TMs on them as though they were a middleman in an exchange that doesn't need one?

asants. Every store has a different clientele. Compared to the condition of my store 3 years ago, our guests are eating this up. They love all the changes. We finished last year with a 22% increase over the previous year. And last year we finished around 15% more than the year before. Our guests love the hand holding and guiding them to the right purchase. They don’t all need it, but they return again and again instead of going to Best Buy or Walmart across the street.