Fall National Meeting

[Spotter]

Now that COVID is over, the FNM is back in MN. Any insights on what upcoming plans for the upcoming future?
Mine bring the specialty teams back company wide.

 

[IceIceBaby]

Never understood why some stores got rid of presentation position but others still have them.

 

[qmosqueen]

Raise the minimum up it’s still only 15:/hr in my state that hasn’t changed since well before the pandemic.

 

[SigningLady]

New this year: it's now called Target Together, not Fall National Meeting.

 

[OldSchoolVet]

Never understood why some stores got rid of presentation position but others still have them.

Thankfully we never got rid of that and price change. I enjoy setting pogs.

 

[dannyy315]

In person meeting means live performances, I'm curious to see who they get.

 

[Noiinteam]

My SD told me before she left there were no live performances this year. She was disappointed. Hopefully she was wrong. The only thing I heard was regarding store remodels. My ETL told me on Monday instead of over 700 scheduled, they scaled back to 300. Don’t know if it for this year and next year or what.

 

[NCweatherguy]

My SD told me before she left there were no live performances this year. She was disappointed. Hopefully she was wrong. The only thing I heard was regarding store remodels. My ETL told me on Monday instead of over 700 scheduled, they scaled back to 300. Don’t know if it for this year and next year or what.

Mine said they cut the performances but gave them single rooms.

 

[Mikuhl]

Raise the minimum up it’s still only 15:/hr in my state that hasn’t changed since well before the pandemic.

No way that's happening, Walmart already reverted back to like $12 or something.

 

[Ringwraith917]

Raise the minimum up it’s still only 15:/hr in my state that hasn’t changed since well before the pandemic.

Hah. Louisiana $7.25/hr minimum wage along with our neighbors Alabama Mississippi and Texas. As a huge coincidence we are also some of the poorest states in the nation. 🫠 Happy to be working at Target with a starting base of 15.

 

[Yetive]

Mine said they cut the performances but gave them single rooms.

Exactly what I heard too, lol. My SD said she'd rather have it online and get the savings as payroll.

 

[Sisyphus]

My SD said she'd rather have it online and get the savings as payroll.

Truer words were never spoken. May those words go from your SD's mouth to Cornell's ears.

 

[happygoth]

Hah. Louisiana $7.25/hr minimum wage along with our neighbors Alabama Mississippi and Texas. As a huge coincidence we are also some of the poorest states in the nation. 🫠 Happy to be working at Target with a starting base of 15.

Exactly. I think a lot of people don't realize that at least half of the states in this great union of ours have minimum wages of ten dollars or less an hour last time I looked. Federal minimum is currently still $7.25, which many states follow.

Sure Target deserves some criticism like all big corporations, but paywise they are competitive and better than some. Lots of people like to go on about poor retail workers and their crappy minimum wage jobs, but that really isn't always the case. I get paid over $16 an hour to hang and fold clothes. I'm not complaining!

 

[gsa4lyfe]

My SD told me before she left there were no live performances this year. She was disappointed. Hopefully she was wrong. The only thing I heard was regarding store remodels. My ETL told me on Monday instead of over 700 scheduled, they scaled back to 300. Don’t know if it for this year and next year or what.

Correct no live performances. Remodels yes and No. There was never 700 scheduled, about 70ish scheduled and now it’s about cut in half and they will only will be doing ULTA remodels as well as 2 expansion remodels.

Mine said they cut the performances but gave them single rooms.

Singles rooms but only because the city is empty and they were dirt cheap compared to previous years. Minneapolis is a ghost town with a lot of companies exiting and business still boarded up from the riots a couple years back, it’s pretty apocalyptic. Never before would they be able to get availability for 5000 people. Probably still spent less than prior years.

Now that COVID is over, the FNM is back in MN. Any insights on what upcoming plans for the upcoming future?
Mine bring the specialty teams back company wide.

So as planned there is nothing new. 2023 has been all about retail fundamentals, best practices and consistency. This theme carried on with this years meeting. Small little updates with supply chain and tests they’re doing with repacks but nothing store side.

Also just an FYI historically majority of new information and processes come out at spring meeting not in the fall. They try not to roll out and process changes or org changes going into Q4.

Also zero mention about the Operations Merch team pilot good or bad so I assume it will not be rolling out anytime soon or at least not until next spring.

 

[IceIceBaby]

Correct no live performances. Remodels yes and No. There was never 700 scheduled, about 70ish scheduled and now it’s about cut in half and they will only will be doing ULTA remodels as well as 2 expansion remodels.


Singles rooms but only because the city is empty and they were dirt cheap compared to previous years. Minneapolis is a ghost town with a lot of companies exiting and business still boarded up from the riots a couple years back, it’s pretty apocalyptic. Never before would they be able to get availability for 5000 people. Probably still spent less than prior years.

So as planned there is nothing new. 2023 has been all about retail fundamentals, best practices and consistency. This theme carried on with this years meeting. Small little updates with supply chain and tests they’re doing with repacks but nothing store side.

Also just an FYI historically majority of new information and processes come out at spring meeting not in the fall. They try not to roll out and process changes or org changes going into Q4.

Also zero mention about the Operations Merch team pilot good or bad so I assume it will not be rolling out anytime soon or at least not until next spring.

Is it a smart move to get an Ulta when theft has been so rampant lately? I heard a fellow store has these annoying security sensor each time a a guest takes an item off the shelf.

 

[BackupTL]

Also just an FYI historically majority of new information and processes come out at spring meeting not in the fall. They try not to roll out and process changes or org changes going into Q4.

Also zero mention about the Operations Merch team pilot good or bad so I assume it will not be rolling out anytime soon or at least not until next spring.

Yeah apparently they rolled out a revamp of Stores Growth Pilot to stores this month but my old DSD said no org changes until 2024 at the earliest.

 

[gracefulfillment]

Also zero mention about the Operations Merch team pilot good or bad so I assume it will not be rolling out anytime soon or at least not until next spring.

They've taken some stuff off the OM team and given back on the salesfloor teams, but it seems like they haven't made up their mind(?). I'm not entirely certain what changes they made.
We'll probably see it roll company wide next year if it works (and frankly maybe even if it doesn't)

 

[NCweatherguy]

. Small little updates with supply chain and tests they’re doing with repacks but nothing store side.

Any details on this test? Sounds interesting.

 

[Selfish]

The Ulta thing may be a contractual obligation, though I'm surprised they haven't chosen to ramp up the fulfillment/DriveUp expansions.

 

[gsa4lyfe]

Is it a smart move to get an Ulta when theft has been so rampant lately? I heard a fellow store has these annoying security sensor each time a a guest takes an item off the shelf.

There are contractual agreements to have a specific amount of ultas open within the first few years of the agreement. There are some tests going on that ulta would have to approve of to go large scale on that include either lockups like they’re putting in other parts of the store or creating some smaller walls and making ulta a single entry area with a POS that would require guests to checkout before leaving the ulta section.

Any details on this test? Sounds interesting.

Small and things with A&A repacks like prefolding panties in small boxes so they can go straight from box to shelf without a TM folding. Also rethinking how all of folded comes to stores considering target pays a vendor to fold these items, ships them to stores and then we fold them again. We have a newish SVP of store ops and she’s the first one in a long time that has any apparel knowledge since she started at a soft lines etl back in the day and has an understanding of how unproductive breakout and A&A is.

 

[SigningLady]

There are contractual agreements to have a specific amount of ultas open within the first few years of the agreement. There are some tests going on that ulta would have to approve of to go large scale on that include either lockups like they’re putting in other parts of the store or creating some smaller walls and making ulta a single entry area with a POS that would require guests to checkout before leaving the ulta section.


Small and things with A&A repacks like prefolding panties in small boxes so they can go straight from box to shelf without a TM folding. Also rethinking how all of folded comes to stores considering target pays a vendor to fold these items, ships them to stores and then we fold them again. We have a newish SVP of store ops and she’s the first one in a long time that has any apparel knowledge since she started at a soft lines etl back in the day and has an understanding of how unproductive breakout and A&A is.

Yes, yes, yes to fixing the issues with folded!!!! 🙌🏻 And sort in general! It drives me nuts the way the folded items come in all jumbled up in the repacks. And the panties. I loathe anything folded (but especially the panties) that is a slippery material so if it came in already folded that would be amazing.

 

[Selfish]

target pays a vendor to fold these items

Seriously? What a waste.

 

[gsa4lyfe]

Seriously? What a waste.

I’m sure it’s a machine but yeah they have to pay for it to be folded at a factory before it gets send to target to be loaded in repacks. It typically looses its fold due to the DC or on the trailer. They actually talked about doing visits to DCs and Stores recently and shocked at how bad the folds were by the time it reaches stores.

 

[Selfish]

I’m sure it’s a machine but yeah they have to pay for it to be folded at a factory before it gets send to target to be loaded in repacks. It typically looses its fold due to the DC or on the trailer. They actually talked about doing visits to DCs and Stores recently and shocked at how bad the folds were by the time it reaches stores.

Oh, it's 100% the DCs. If you fold cloths, stuff them in a repack, and throw it around a bit, the folds stay intact for the most part.

I believe they're starting to look into DCs for data integrity issues too. There are far too many mispicks coming into stores and inaccurate loads on top of that (things supposedly being on the BOL for one truck, but physically being on another and getting INF'd or audited as a result).

 

[Targen]

Oh, it's 100% the DCs. If you fold cloths, stuff them in a repack, and throw it around a bit, the folds stay intact for the most part.

I believe they're starting to look into DCs for data integrity issues too. There are far too many mispicks coming into stores and inaccurate loads on top of that (things supposedly being on the BOL for one truck, but physically being on another and getting INF'd or audited as a result).

I had to audit the entire kitchen tools wall because it was practically empty even though we "had" 3 on hand of most items. Conveniently the amount usually sent in a repack. We also get a decent amount of cases for other stores. Easy for us to fix, not so much for the store that was supposed to get that item.