The 'Middle America' you've described tends to shop at Walmart.
This is middle America geography wise.
As for demo's I'll spell it out and its not going to be pretty..
WHITE middle, to upper middle, and some lower higher class is the "target"
demo here...
White trailer trash, black, hispanics do NOT shop at
my store in large numbers, There a few probably less than 20 total of those groups that shop here...
That other store is located in slum/ghettos for the 5 are in the immediate shopping area. They are over runned by hispanics on the weekends, and during the week its all the white trash and blacks. The stores are disgustingly filthy, and the employees are just as filthy.
Guests here constantly say they prefer to come to my store because:
1) The store is CLEAN even with my flow team here and cages full of cardboard and flats of freight,
2) Employees are CLEAN and friendly
What upsets guests is the LACK OF GROCERY v. the grocery chains and that other store.
We have what we term as "'store that shall not be named' rejects" who show up in their raggedy ass PAJAMAS, slippers, and stink with BO! They obviously got trressp'd from that other store (and in my state if LE trepss'd them its FOR LIFE!)
Target shoppers tend to be the moms who like Target's clothes selection better than Wallie's, who cook more than just steak & 'taters, who may have a child with food allergies, who'd like to treat themselves to an occasional latte, who'd like to decorate their home with something other than NASCAR memorabilia & deer head trophies.
If they can get all that in one stop, they're gonna spend more than they would at Wallie's.
The 2 local grocery chains have two extremes, lower prices and disgusting stores or clean stores and higher, MUCH HIGHER PRICES, unless its on sale. Again if we had more grocery to complete with these two chains more guests would make the store a grocery destination and then go shop those higher margin items in SL and HL.. T
As the yoga/leggings brigades.. 98% of them have not or ever set foot in a "gym/yoga" setting in their life. It may be called active wear, its more like leisure wear and or too lazy to find clothes to put on..especially the HS girls who either have to wear uniforms (parochial and private school - local schools SUCK!) There are few who can tell have actually been to a gym etc... Then there are the HS'lrs and the local comm. college girls who are either in leggings/yoga/jeggings.. or they are in jeans/boots. This is FFA/4H country these girls know their farms!
These families from the farm families to the "suburbanites" can't stand that other store... and only go for things we don't carry, a lot for the grocery. And they refuse to pay the price at the other clean store unless its on sale.
This area is big in beef production, and steak and taters is big... but basics more than just russet single and bags and bags of red potatoes, are needed. As is more cuts of steak, better grades. along with some more specialty meats ie: veal, lamb. Roasts for BBQ! The pork roasts sell pretty good here. Throw that thing in the slow cooker with those sauces or if you have a smoker... pulled pork... The ribs don't sell well here due to the poor packaging ie: the blood packages.
You aint' getting no latte or frappe nonsense in my store, we thankfully don't have that abomination just a regular FA. They will have to go the plaza nearby and get that crap before hand.
Maybe in the Haight-Ashbury cityTGT that grass clipping and yogurt may fly out the door here.. no.. I don't need 6 shelfs of that stuff, nor do I need mega jugs of it! Same with all those shelfs full of yogurt.. cut it down!
Chasing that 2% at the extreme "Tarjay" end is not the end to be chasing. ie:
I don't think we're focused on taking guests from Walmart so much anymore, which was Greg's thing. I think we're going for Whole Foods customers now.
You can NOT go this FAR DOWN the rabbit hole, and at the EXPENSE of BASICS! That group is not going to go shop for C9 leggings! They will pick them up look at the label "made in vietnam!" Not 100% handle coddled fabric and they won't buy it! You can't go that far off the deep end..
My 100-80-20 rule manages this. Basics along with niche and fads...
And...
Target going forward is only interested in investing into departments that will fit into just a few pillars of the business. They do not want to just compete with other grocery stores, but fit the mold that Target has already formed in its guests' minds. For this reason, food is going to focus on wellness and provide to guests who want that as their focus. We are not going to backtrack into a price war with other grocery companies and definitely not go back to other specialty grocery niches (such as cutting meats, deli etc). We want to get away from that and keep our business simple.
THUD! There just went 99% of the PFresh customers here.. Guests here are not interested in that plan. Period. So you can come to my store and get some freezers, coolers, fixtures,etc. as we won't need them!
Not going to work here, and that means I too won't shop here for 99%, probably 100% of my food. If you and further up think this is the right strategy , hate to burst it to you, but here that strategy is destined to fail, and FAIL MASSIVELY!
Guests can't get what they want now.... and you shoving more of that "choose well" nonsense down my throat will just drive them right the door, food wise! We have some of the same thing that one of the local chains carry, and we are cheaper already unless its on BOGO or something. Add in 5% and BAM! We may not be cheaper than that other store and or the other local chain, but TGT guests don't go there as they are filthy in any way you look at them and the locations are unsafe, especially later in the day early evening.
So I will start sweeping back to the DC our Pfresh stuff as we don't need it! Guess I can move my PA to flow, and well the other market TM(s) can get some scraps from HL hours.
