Target is one of the biggest retailers in the US, with almost 2000 mass retail stores. However, not many people know who owns them.
Target Corporation owns Target. However, before 2000, Target’s parent company was named the Dayton-Hudson Corporation and the Dayton Corporation before it. Today, Target has more than 340,000 employees, with one location within a 10-mile radius of 75% Americans.
Read on as we discuss the outstanding growth of this iconic discount retailer, including the reason behind the common misconception that Walmart owns them.
When Was Target Founded?
Even since its founding in 1962, Target and its trademark bull’s eye logo have become synonymous with retail in America.
When the Dayton Corporation decided to dive into the mass discount retail business, its vision was to provide an excellent shopping experience with the best deals.
The idea for Target was to combine quality with ease, which meant multiple departments with wide aisles and quick checkouts a one-stop-shop with discount prices. With this foresight, Target opened its doors for the first time in Minnesota in 1962. Its excellent quality and discounted prices forever changed how consumers saw discount stores.
Fun Fact: The Target Effect is spending a lot more money or buying way more stuff than you originally intended, similar to what happens when you go to Target. This phenomenon is so common that it earned a place in the Urban Dictionary.
The Dayton-Hudson Corporation
It took only a couple of years for Target to expand beyond Minnesota. And this expansion continued when the Dayton corporation merged with the J.L. Hudson Company, and the Dayton-Hudson Corporation was born in 1969.
A few years later, the Target stores across the country started looking the same. This standardization was not only limited to the store color scheme and layout but also the employee uniforms. Eventually, Target’s popularity rose, and it soon became the highest revenue generator for its parent company, achieving its first billion dollars in annual sales in 1979.
The Target Corporation
From then on, there was no stopping Target. From company-owned brands to online shopping to new store formats, the retailers successfully grew under the Dayton-Hudson banner until it was renamed the Target corporation in 2000. The move was to highlight the company’s key business. Since then, the Target stores have been run under the Target Corporation name, continually innovating to provide the best experience to their customers and being one of the best employers in the country.
Who Is the Current Target CEO?
As of 2022, the Target CEO and Board Chairman is Brian Cornell, who assumed the position in 2014. He succeeded Gregg Steinhafel after the Target data breach and its unsuccessful venture into Canada. Before joining Target, Cornell was the CEO of PepsiCo Americas Foods.
Brian’s role as Target CEO has won him several accolades, including CNN’s Top CEO of the Year and the 2022 “Visionary” title from the National Retail Federation.
Why Do People Think Walmart Owns Target?
A lot of people have the misconception that Walmart owns target. However, this is not true. So, why do people think that Walmart owns Target? There can be a couple of reasons for that.
One is that Walmart owns numerous companies, but Target is not one of them. The wrong assumption that Walmart owns Target could also be due to the former’s 2015 announcement, which intimated Walmart’s plans to buy several Target Canada stores and a distribution center after Target’s exit following a failed venture. The goal was to renovate, set up, and staff the stores. Keep in mind that Target Canada is now defunct.
What Was Target’s First Owned Brand?
Target’s growth has been nothing short of monumental. Target takes special pride in its private brands, called “owned brands.” As of 2022, there are over 45 owned brands, including everything from apparel to activewear to food items and arts and crafts. However, the first Target owned-brand was officially introduced in 1984, called Honors. It was a casual clothing line and made way for all other private labels to make their way to the stores.
When Did Target Introduce Online Shopping?
Target understood the need for online shopping and started selling some of its merchandise via its website in 1998. Before this, the website – Target Online – was used to post content related to marketing and other information. Officially, its e-commerce website was launched in 1999, where people could buy merchandise without going to the store. In the beginning, Target Online focused more on selling gifts and sporting goods.
Different Target Store Formats and Their Introduction Timeline
Target has experimented with different store formats over the years, going more extensive than their standard store layout and, more recently, smaller to cater to urban customers. Here are Target’s various store formats and the years they were introduced.
- Target Greatland: Bigger layout than standard stores with expanded services and food avenue; introduced in 1990
- SuperTarget: Bigger than the Greatland format, came with a fresh produce section; introduced in 1995.
- CityTarget: Aimed at catering to urban consumers in a smaller store format; introduced in 2012
- TargetExpress: Covered an even smaller area than CityTarget for business in places with limited space; introduced in 2014
In 2015, Target announced that its stores would be called Target regardless of their size.
The Bottom Line
Target is owned by Target Corporation, which started as the Dayton Corporation and later changed to the Dayton-Hudson Corporation in 1969. Target’s parent company changed to its most recent name, the Target Corporation, in 2000.