Archived Pathway to Profitability

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Pathway to Profitability is a pilot that's goal is to make ULV stores more profitable, and at the moment stores are allowed to make a lot of these business decisions themselves (with the DTL of course). Ten stores are participating in this pilot.

The focus is mostly on SuperTarget food departments. All production is to be removed in lieu of PFresh options.

Bakery no longer produces products (breads, bagels, donuts, cookies, pastries), except for the cake decorator. Great reduction in hours, opening at 9am and closing at 3pm.

Deli no longer produces salads and sandwiches, slices meat, fries for the hot case, or makes rotisserie chicken. Reduction in hours from 9am and closing at 7pm.

Produce no longer cuts fruit.

Target Cafe/Pizza Hut reduces hours to 11am to 7pm, with a limited selection of products.

Fitting Room/Operator position is eliminated, instead a designated Softlines TM will carry a phone around with them, and the fitting room has a call-button.

Store hours reduced, opening instead at 9:00 am.

The goal of this change is to minimize any possible 'waste' of controllable expenses, and to try to make the Deli and Bakery profitable (Deli and Bakery are loyalty-driving loss-leaders).

I posted something like this a while back when it was first decided at HQ, but it was only going into effect at 1-2 stores, and now it's going live in all 10 of the pilot stores.
 
I'm ULV, but a) not a Super and b) not involved in this madness. That said, we've never had an operator. That's up to guest services to juggle. As a ULV, this is generally not an issue. Also, we really don't have a fitting room person. Thanks to myTime, there is actually someone scheduled under that for the first time since I've been there, but they just use them as a regular softlines person. And there is no indyme button at the fitting room.
 
I always wondered if PFresh was going to replace/eliminate the SuperTarget location... Maybe this is the start?
 
Pathway to Profitability is a pilot that's goal is to make ULV stores more profitable, and at the moment stores are allowed to make a lot of these business decisions themselves (with the DTL of course). Ten stores are participating in this pilot.

The focus is mostly on SuperTarget food departments. All production is to be removed in lieu of PFresh options.

Bakery no longer produces products (breads, bagels, donuts, cookies, pastries), except for the cake decorator. Great reduction in hours, opening at 9am and closing at 3pm.

Deli no longer produces salads and sandwiches, slices meat, fries for the hot case, or makes rotisserie chicken. Reduction in hours from 9am and closing at 7pm.

Produce no longer cuts fruit.

Target Cafe/Pizza Hut reduces hours to 11am to 7pm, with a limited selection of products.

Fitting Room/Operator position is eliminated, instead a designated Softlines TM will carry a phone around with them, and the fitting room has a call-button.

Store hours reduced, opening instead at 9:00 am.

The goal of this change is to minimize any possible 'waste' of controllable expenses, and to try to make the Deli and Bakery profitable (Deli and Bakery are loyalty-driving loss-leaders).

I posted something like this a while back when it was first decided at HQ, but it was only going into effect at 1-2 stores, and now it's going live in all 10 of the pilot stores.

It definitely makes sense. If this is for ULV Super Targets, I can definitely see why the changes are in place. Even relatively high volume Super Targets with large store % of sales in food struggle to reach profitability (if ever) and a majority of the food processes in small stores is probably a total waste.
 
It makes sense on paper, but I wonder what the loss of loyalty would be compared to the gain in profit. Fresh cookies taste better than cookies that were previously cooked and then frozen. Fresh salads are way better than the ones we have now. Deli meat sliced at the counter has a much better rep than the prepackaged stuff. Etc etc. If someone who's used to getting fresh doughnuts at Target are now getting previously-frozen crap, they will notice the difference. See the freshly-baked cookies vs frozen cookies in FA. I haven't bought a cookie from there in a looong time.

Since margins are so slim, I guess it is worth it, especially in a low-volume. But I can see this backlashing a bit the higher you go.
 
Pathway to Profitability is a pilot that's goal is to make ULV stores more profitable, and at the moment stores are allowed to make a lot of these business decisions themselves (with the DTL of course). Ten stores are participating in this pilot.

The focus is mostly on SuperTarget food departments. All production is to be removed in lieu of PFresh options.

Bakery no longer produces products (breads, bagels, donuts, cookies, pastries), except for the cake decorator. Great reduction in hours, opening at 9am and closing at 3pm.

Deli no longer produces salads and sandwiches, slices meat, fries for the hot case, or makes rotisserie chicken. Reduction in hours from 9am and closing at 7pm.

Produce no longer cuts fruit.

Target Cafe/Pizza Hut reduces hours to 11am to 7pm, with a limited selection of products.

Fitting Room/Operator position is eliminated, instead a designated Softlines TM will carry a phone around with them, and the fitting room has a call-button.

Store hours reduced, opening instead at 9:00 am.

The goal of this change is to minimize any possible 'waste' of controllable expenses, and to try to make the Deli and Bakery profitable (Deli and Bakery are loyalty-driving loss-leaders).

I posted something like this a while back when it was first decided at HQ, but it was only going into effect at 1-2 stores, and now it's going live in all 10 of the pilot stores.
yeah that's gonna piss some folks off. especially in my area it will go over like a fart in church.
 
Bakery no longer produces products (breads, bagels, donuts, cookies, pastries), except for the cake decorator. Great reduction in hours, opening at 9am and closing at 3pm.

Deli no longer produces salads and sandwiches, slices meat, fries for the hot case, or makes rotisserie chicken. Reduction in hours from 9am and closing at 7pm.

Produce no longer cuts fruit.

Target Cafe/Pizza Hut reduces hours to 11am to 7pm, with a limited selection of products.

Fitting Room/Operator position is eliminated, instead a designated Softlines TM will carry a phone around with them, and the fitting room has a call-button.

Store hours reduced, opening instead at 9:00 am.

The goal of this change is to minimize any possible 'waste' of controllable expenses, and to try to make the Deli and Bakery profitable (Deli and Bakery are loyalty-driving loss-leaders).

With the exception of the Food Ave reduction of hours, I think if this was implemented at my store, this would not go over well.

I would probably even stop shopping much at Target, because I don't like the GM stores OR the P-Fresh models. They just aren't the same and are missing a lot of stuff that I get now.

I don't eat much fruit, and I don't ever use the fitting room, so neither of those would bother me.
 
Doesn't affect my ULV p-fresh store except for the FRO thing and the hours...but our fitting room already has an indyme button because the doors are all locked and the operator already has a cordles phone. So if they want to just juggle FRO around softlines TMs (which is really mostly what already happens) I doubt it'll make any percievable difference except as far as workcenters on paper.

The 9 AM thing would actually probably be a boon to us considering 8-9 is usually pretty dead, I usually have my slowest cashier opening, and with the move to 7:30 AM process and 7:45 AM pfresh times, if they kept those times the same it would be pretty nice. Of course they'd probably just change to 8:xx instead :(
 
I'd like a cordless phone, it'd make my job easier.

At my store, electronics has a cordless with 4 handsets. If I'm in toys, I just use one of the electronics phones to take calls because it's easier than dealing with the blasted red phones and I can walk around with it.
 
Doesn't affect my ULV p-fresh store except for the FRO thing and the hours...but our fitting room already has an indyme button because the doors are all locked and the operator already has a cordles phone.

I bet the locked doors and call button get annoying but that actually sounds pretty great for shortage. The fitting room doesn't answer the phone at my store but it would deter people from stealing if they had to be let in to a fitting room. On truck days at my store we're lucky to have the FR staffed from 12pm-close. There's almost never anyone in there before noon.
 
Doesn't affect my ULV p-fresh store except for the FRO thing and the hours...but our fitting room already has an indyme button because the doors are all locked and the operator already has a cordles phone.

I bet the locked doors and call button get annoying but that actually sounds pretty great for shortage. The fitting room doesn't answer the phone at my store but it would deter people from stealing if they had to be let in to a fitting room. On truck days at my store we're lucky to have the FR staffed from 12pm-close. There's almost never anyone in there before noon.

Yeah, sadly shortage in the fitting room is still a significant problem, but without doing that it'd be even worse I'm sure.
 
Target is going to have to make choice do they want to be in grovery buisness or not? You can not half ass it and hope to get ahead. This is why P-fresh has failed. It does not offer enough to make people think of Target as grocery destination. So instead it is just stuff people wander through may pick up a few items in. That is the way it was before P-fresh but, then it was all higher profit food items (snacks, frozen foods etc.) Now with P-fresh you have the same customer behaviors but, have added lots loss with a group of fresh items/meat etc.

When we are in Target we pass through P-fresh and only pick up thinks that are on a good sale or reduced meat that we can toss in our big freezer. We then go to the grocery store for groceries because they have a deli, fresh breads etc. So either you get in grocery game all the way or you instead you go back to just having some food aisles and don't. It is far to compedative in the grocery indsutry for Target to try and do it on the cheap (and I mean cheap on labor not prices).
 
I know our store pilots all sorts of tests and whatnot, and we're close to HQ; I wonder if we'll do any of this..

Although, half of the time we don't have an operator anyway. And, when we do, they're always short soft lines so the FR/O just carries a portable and checks the fitting room hourly.... Great way to plummet our A&A scores....
 
Not only is it a half-assed effort, Target really doesn't know how to run food correctly. The system of locating in the backroom works for merchandise but not for food if you don't have the people. Too much stuff comes out on pulls, even with entire coolers LOCU'd, pushed, and SUBT'd. Counts randomly get borked. Too much stuff, not enough people.

Through high school and part of college, I worked at the dairy department of a supermarket. The department was sizable to Pfresh and nothing was located in the back. I believe the department was all orderable by the manager but suggestions were made by the PDA. Staffing for the department was comparable to my Pfresh. And it was always full. I always knew where everything was. Sale items were rarely out of stock. The whole department was zoned at night.

With a backroom that is located, you'd expect everything to be perfect, but it's far from it. I dunno how but Target's gotta change the way it handles food.
 
Store hours reduced, opening instead at 9:00 am.

Since they are slowly but surely killing the overnight process & edging it closer & closer to opening time, that gives the slaves an extra hour to be ready by opening.



I think they should just BE BOLD and offer any earlybird "guests" an extra 5% off their total bill if they stop & help push the merchandise in one aisle. Do 2 aisles & you get a free Target shirt too!

Why pay employees if you can get shoppers to do the work & then spend money when they are done?
 
Store hours reduced, opening instead at 9:00 am.

Since they are slowly but surely killing the overnight process & edging it closer & closer to opening time, that gives the slaves an extra hour to be ready by opening.



I think they should just BE BOLD and offer any earlybird "guests" an extra 5% off their total bill if they stop & help push the merchandise in one aisle. Do 2 aisles & you get a free Target shirt too!

Why pay employees if you can get shoppers to do the work & then spend money when they are done?

Do the completely full HB/cosmetics reshop cart and you get 50% off your entire order!
 
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