Image: Target’s new ‘inspiration’ entrance.
Target Corporation has unveiled plans to redesign nearly a third of its bricks and mortar locations over the next three years.
The first new look store will launch in October in Houston, Texas, and an additional 40 stores will test elements of the next-gen design.
Customer feedback from these will then influence Target’s approach to the 600 stores it plans to redesign in 2018 and 2019.
Target’s chairman and CEO, Brian Cornell, said the store redesign is part of the company’s commitment to invest US $7 billion over the next three years to reimagine hundreds of existing stores.
“With our next generation of store design, we’re investing to take the Target shopping experience to the next level by offering more elevated product presentations and a number of time-saving features,” he said.
“The new design for this Houston store will provide the vision for the 600 reimagined stores planned for 2018 and 2019, with the goal of taking a customised approach to creating an enhanced shopping experience.”
Target’s new look
The redesign is focused on Target’s strategy of creating a smart network with its stores, digital channels, and supply chain working together to better serve customers.
Staff members will be equipped with new technology that will enable them to search inventory, take payment with a mobile POS system and arrange delivery, all from the sales floor.
There will also be two store entrances, each with a specific customer need in mind—an ‘inspiration’ entrance and a ‘speed’ entrance.
Shoppers entering through one side will find displays of exclusive brands, with cross-merchandising showcasing Target’s assortment across apparel, accessories, home, jewellery and beauty and encouraging visitors to browse. 
Stores will also feature more circular centre aisles with merchandise displays that Target hopes will “engage guests with compelling products in unexpected places”.
The other entrance will cater to time-poor guests, with easy access to the grocery, bottle shop, self-checkout lanes and a dedicated order pickup counter. Outside this entrance, shoppers will find dedicated parking spaces where staff members will bring out online orders.
Information about the new stores comes after a previous Target announcement sharing plans to open more than 100 small-format stores over the next three years, curating the best of Target for dense urban neighbourhoods and university campuses.
The Target Corporation currently has 1,806 stores across the US.
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