Target on its way here!

[Rach]

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20110113/target-canada-110113/

After years of anticipation Canadian consumers can soon set their sights on a new shopping destination, as U.S. discount retailer Target has announced plans to set up its stores north of the border.
Target Corporation said Thursday that it is paying the Hudson's Bay Company $1.825 billion to acquire the leasehold interests in 220 Zellers locations across Canada.
Target says the deal doesn't mean an immediate end to the Zellers brand, but is rather the first step in opening between 100 and 150 of its own stores here by 2014.
Although the money is expected to change hands in May and September of this year, "Zellers Inc. will sublease these sites from Target and continue to operate them under the Zellers banner for a period of time," the company said in a statement announcing the deal Thursday.
According to Target's chairman and CEO, his company's first move outside the U.S. will be a boon for Canadian consumers interested in a "superior shopping experience."
"We are very excited to bring our broad assortment of unique, high-quality merchandise at exceptional values and our convenient shopping environment to Canadian guests coast-to-coast," Gregg Steinhafel said in a press release promising "a more robust Target presence in Canada over time."
Commenting on the deal in a statement Thursday, Hudson's Bay Company Governor Richard Baker said, "This transaction provides attractive long term value and will allow us to invest substantial capital into our department store and specialty store businesses to continue to drive growth."
Target expects to spend approximately $1 billion to remodel and reopen the existing Zellers stores under its own brand. The company also says it will have hired up to 20,000 people once its stores are operational.
The Minneapolis-based company's more than 1,700 stores across the U.S. have long been a favourite of shoppers on the hunt for what the retailer has dubbed "discount-chic".
While speculation has been rife the company was considering a move north of the border for some time, Target only confirmed its international expansion plans in June of last year.
It had been stymied, however, by the hunt for suitable locations, and most recently, the economic slowdown.
Baker, whose U.S.-based real estate development company NRDC Equity Partners LLC enjoys strong ties with many of the biggest retailers south of the border, paid $1.1 billion to acquire the Hudson's Bay Company in 2008.


Walmart Canada should be concerned... They have had free reign on the Canadian discount retail market for the last 15 years!

 

[Irv S]

Target is pretty good for ladies clothing and some lower end electronics.

Their target demographic is the JC Pennys shoppers and alike.

The clothing tends to be higher quality than Walmart.

 

[$avannah]

That's why Walmart Canada would be concerned... They have pretty much had the lower end retail market all to themselves for the last 15 years.

:shock:

 

[reese]

They should change the name to "Crosshairs" to give us a more American experience.

 

[Cute Latin Girl]

Target rocks! Relied on it heavily when I broke away from home

 

[moosaidthebrit]

How do they compare to Winners?.

 

[Help]

Never shopper at a Winners so I have no basis to compare.

 

[C. Lourde]

Winners is mostly close-outs/ old stock etc of branded product... and is therefore hit and miss. There are some good deals, but selection is limited and sizing is often an issue.

Target is new product/ knock-offs of branded items and "pseudo" brands.

 

[Cady]

Fuck somewhere else for the wife to spend money!!

 

[Kevin G]

You have to cut down on the hobby :frown: Feel for you muck :tongue:

 

[hollistergal888]

I've had Targets around me for years (we call it TarZHEY to make it sound nicer). It's just another general store to us. Great toy selection too.

 

[Pompal 09.]

“When is Target going to buy Zellers and come to Canada?” has been the most-asked question posed to this reporter over the years at the office water cooler and at parties — it seems most consumers who have visited the cheap chic Wal-Mart rival as it successfully expanded across the U.S. prefer its cheap chic stylings to that of Zellers. (Close behind in popularity: “When is J Crew coming to Canada?” That is supposed to happen at a mystery location in Toronto later this year. Stay tuned!)
Five things you need to know about the Target/Zellers deal:

1. Target is not buying Zellers, per se. Target is shelling out $1.825-billion for up to 220 leasehold interests of Zellers locations that have yet to be decided. Zellers’ owner, U.S. real estate investor Richard Baker, took over the mostly-leased Zellers chain when he bought Hudson’s Bay Co. in 2008 for $1.1-billion. The worth of those long-term leases with large landlords such as RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust and and how much another business would pay for them were the largest barrier to a deal like Thursday’s under its prior two owners.
2. Zellers will still exist, albeit in a scaled-down version, for a while. There are currently 279 Zellers outlets across Canada and there is no guarantee at this point that Target will take over all but 60 of them — the Minneapolis-based corporation simply has bought the right to do so. The U.S. mass merchant wants to open 100 to 150 Target stores across Canada beginning in 2013, and Mr. Baker will keep operating many of the remaining locations as Zellers outlets until Target decides over the next few months which ones it wants to keep.
3. Zellers will likely disappear in the next five years. Industry experts predict Mr. Baker will negotiate the sale of the remaining leases to parties who want to cherry-pick locations that are compelling to them. Depending on the square footage and demographics, that could include established Canadian retailers such as Dollarama and Giant Tiger; parties that have been expanding and looking for big pieces of real estate, such as home improvement chain Lowe’s or Marshall’s, a corporate sibling to Winners and Home Sense; or retailers that have reportedly been eyeing the Canadian market, such as Kohl’s or J.C. Penney.
4. Canadians will finally be able to get their mitts on Target’s private brands, including its top-selling Target Home decor and furniture collection and limited-edition goods from partnerships with A-list designers such as William Rast or Stella McCartney. “We are very excited to bring our broad assortment of unique, high-quality merchandise at exceptional values and our convenient shopping environment to Canadian guests coast-to-coast,” said Gregg Steinhafel, Target’s CEO.
5. You can expect some attention-grabbing deals from Wal-Mart Canada as it prepares for Target’s entry. The world’s biggest retailer won’t take the arrival of its biggest U.S. rival into one of its top-performing markets in the world lightly.

Read more: http://business.financialpost.com/2011/01/13/fp-marketing-target-canada-finally/#ixzz1B19YJ1P0
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[Corey]

I gave up shopping at winners a long time ago because every time I went in, they didn't have my size or their pricing was out to lunch. For eg: why pay $40.00 for a pair of levis with a flaw in them when you can spend $45.00 for a pair that are perfect?



There, I fixed it for you.....

Whenever I was in the US I found target to be a more upscale version of Kmart. Maybe a little better than Zellers, kind of between bargain basement and department store quality. Don't know if we'll get one up here, the Zellers store is pretty small.....one thing we are missing up here though is a real Sears store. There's nothing until you hit Barrie. I think it'd do well frankly. I hate the catalogue stores, they're useless IMO.