Target comes north
After months, if not years, of anticipation, the American retail giant Target recently made a move for the Canadian retail market by purchasing the leasehold rights of up to 220 Zellers stores. Target is the second largest discount chain in the United States, with sales only surpassed by Walmart.
Zellers – a long-time national retailer – employs several hundred UFCW Canada members in a number of locations. In fact, over 1,500 UFCW Canada members work at 15 different Zellers locations in three different provinces, B.C., Ontario and Quebec.
While the focus of Target’s business has traditionally been in soft goods like clothing, the Minnesota-based company is offering perishables in some of its new stores.
Target has announced that it plans to have 100 to 150 Canadian locations firmly in place by 2013.
By the Numbers: Target Corporation
Established: 1902
Company Type: public
Total 2010 sales: $65-billion (for perspective, total sales for Loblaw last year were $29-billion)
Total number of stores: 1,750 in 49 US states
Average store size: 125,000 square feet
Total number of employees: 351,000
Vol. XI No. 04 • January 24, 2011