Let there be light! Very well lit Target! very clean here, and I felt respected. Great mountain views, as well outside! Target was founded in 1902 as a department store in Minneapolis and evolved into a "cheap-chic" discount retail powerhouse through strategic expansions, designer partnerships, and an early adoption of technology, including artificial intelligence. Founding and early years 1902: Founding. Banker George Dayton founded the Dayton Dry Goods Company in Minneapolis. The business was initially a regional department store that grew steadily over the next several decades. 1946: A legacy of giving. The company began a long-standing tradition of donating 5% of its taxable income to the community. 1962: First Target store. The Dayton Company launched its first Target discount store in Roseville, Minnesota. The name "Target" was chosen to differentiate the new discount chain from the company's existing department stores. 1969: A corporate merger. The Dayton Company merged with the J.L. Hudson Company to form the Dayton-Hudson Corporation, which owned several department store chains in addition to Target. Growth and evolution as Target 1970s and 1980s: Rapid expansion. Target expanded rapidly through store acquisitions and openings across the Midwest and later the West Coast, surviving a period of decreasing profits due to overstocking. 1990s: New store formats. Target introduced larger formats to attract more customers. The first Target Greatland store, featuring a wider selection of goods, opened in 1990, followed by the first SuperTarget hypermarket, which included groceries, in 1995. 1995: Guest credit card. The company launched the Target Guest Card, the first store credit card in the discount retail industry. 1999: Online shopping begins. Target launched its e-commerce website, Target.com. 2000: Renamed Target Corporation. The Dayton-Hudson Corporation officially changed its name to Target Corporation to reflect that Target stores had become its primary business. The company later divested its remaining department store chains, including Marshall Field's and Mervyn's, to focus exclusively on the Target brand. 2005: Strategic technology investments. Target opened a technology office in Bangalore, India, to support its overseas operations. 2009: Mobile app. Target released its mobile app, another step in its digital and online innovations. AI and modern retailing 2012: Urban expansion. Target began opening smaller-format CityTarget stores to cater to urban shoppers. 2013: Failed Canadian expansion. An ambitious move into Canada was unsuccessful, and the company closed all 133 of its Canadian stores by 2015 due to inventory and supply chain problems. Early 2020s: AI integration. Target's investments in data infrastructure paved the way for advanced AI applications, including: Predictive analytics: Using data to forecast consumer demand and manage inventory. Personalization: Delivering targeted promotions and product recommendations via the Target Circle loyalty program and Target.com. 2024: Generative AI tools. The company introduced several new generative AI features: Store Companion chatbot: An AI-powered chatbot for team members to answer process questions and coach new hires. Gift Finder and Shopping Assistant: Tools to help customers discover products and answer questions. Automated content creation: AI is used to summarize guest reviews and update product descriptions on Target's website. Key to success Throughout its history, Target has differentiated itself from competitors like Walmart by cultivating an image of offering stylish, higher-quality products at competitive prices. This "cheap-chic" brand, combined with its consistent integration of technology to enhance the customer experience, has cemented...
Read moreWe’ve been looking forward to a big Super Target in our area for probably 20 years, or really any big grocery store. When they announced a Target was finally moving in, and it was going to be this amazing double decker store, we were beyond thrilled and our family have been counting down the days. How amazing will it be for there to be an epic grocery store servicing south Provo. Finally!
Then I visited today and I can’t remember the last time I was this disappointed. First of all it’s only one floor, apparently the bottom is all warehouse. What!? And no entrance to the Mall? Double what?!
Aisles and Aisles of clothes and items I buy maybe once a year or less. Every section was TINY, tiny bookstore, tiny TV section with the smallest TVs I’ve seen in 20 years, no DVDs or Blu-rays, tiny automotive, tiny hardware, small toy section, tiny kitchen supply section, pretty much every section was undersized except for the GIGANTIC middle section of insanely boring/cheap/probably-slave-labor clothes and cosmetics.
And then I hit the “grocery” store. I literally had visions of springville Smiths X2. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I’ve seen gas stations with bigger grocery sections, including the Maverik basically in the parking lot of this Target.
I could go on and on about how small and disappointing the grocery section is, but my text would end up bigger than their grocery section.
Yes I should have noticed the signs didn’t say super target. But it literally never crossed my mind that they wouldn’t take such a huge square footage opportunity and NOT make it a Super Target.
Before walking in today I assumed I’d be a regular, visiting multiple times per week because it’s closer than any other grocery store. Nope, I see myself visiting maybe once or twice a year at most. I’ll just drive the extra 5 min to Smiths in Springville for a real store. Or even 15 min to drive to Orem Super Target, though at this point I’m going to have a hard time supporting a company that could make such a brain dead decision of opening this clunker.
Sooooo disappointing.
If I were Target, I'd close the doors immediately before more people catch on to the utter disappointment. Turn the bottom into an actual grocery store on par or better than Springville's Smiths, and add a Mall Entrance. Then change the signage to Super Target, which is what it should have been all along.
On the upside, our cashier was about the most cheerful and friendly chap I've ever met, and just about the only reason I'd...
Read moreUpdated review: 03/19/24 Y’all need to chill with the teenage LP people. I went in to get 4 things, diapers, wipes, dry shampoo and a drink. I had my baby with me and just took her in the stroller so I didn’t have to deal with a cart, and it was a quick few items trip so I didn’t need a basket. I grabbed my diapers and wipes, got a treat, and started to head back to the register to grab a drink and check out.
I couldn’t help but notice your two seemingly teenage loss prevention hightailing it everywhere I went. Literally following me around the store, where every item I grabbed was being held in my hands, out in the open and very visible. It’s not like I was putting stuff in my stroller, or even taking my bag off. Everyone knows targets security is top tier, with high quality cameras. Why you need two teenagers to follow someone grabbing four items is insane. I don’t like shopping at stores that make assumptions on people like they’re criminals or something. It’s always something with this specific target, the Orem one is never like this.
The curly haired self checkout person at 11:15am April 25th had no business being as condescending and rude as they were this morning. Having random self checkouts open, and signs saying the registers closed on only some of them, I walk up to a register that had NO sign on it stating it was closed, the terminal screen also didn’t state it was closed, i scan an item and it doesn’t work. The SCO cashier then tells me it’s closed, ok cool that’s fine but I mentioned i was confused where there wasn’t a sign on the scanner. They condescendingly told me how I need to look up because the lights not on. And the light being on is the indication that the registers closed.
Another customer came up to the same register and SCO cashier did the same thing. The customer said the same thing I did, and was promptly told that they don’t have enough signs and to look up. I’m sorry but I have a hard time believing that target, a multi million dollar company can’t make enough signs or a terminal screen that says the reg is closed. Not as surprised that the cashier was rude, but come on lol when it happens twice in a 30 second time frame, maybe work on getting some actual...
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