Super Target fits Lawrence to a 'T.' - new Target Stores supercenter in Lawrence, Kansas; includes article on Target Stores plans for distribution center in Virginia

Discount Store News, Nov 6, 1995 by Arthur Goldgaber

LAWRENCE, KAN. -- Dayton Hudson opened its second Super Target--a discount store/supermarket combination unit--last month here in this college town of 70,000 residents. The new super-center will face fierce competition from Wal-Mart, Kmart and a 1/2 Price Store, all of which operate stores along busy Iowa Street.

The Lawrence Super Target is slightly different than the first Super Target in Omaha, Neb., which opened this past March. At 167,500 sq. ft., the Lawrence store is about 25,000 sq. ft. smaller than the Omaha store.

The first difference is visible as one enters the Lawrence store because it has a third door (used only for exiting) on the south end for an "In-Season" section--a 10,000-sq.-ft. area with its own checkout devoted to seasonal and holiday items such as Halloween costumes and candies, as well as Christmas gift wrap, tree ornaments and decorations. At the section's rear, a door leads to a fenced-in outdoor display area, where pumpkins were on display. The Omaha unit's in-season section is located at the rear within general merchandise and is not as easily accessible.

Another difference is that Target placed the 40,000-sq.-ft. grocery section at the store's front right side, not on the left as in Omaha. Manager Ken Seipel said Target decided to "flip the grocery to the other side to see if it makes a difference for the consumer."

Commenting on the experiment, retail consultant Gene Hoffman said that "food is the magnet for bringing people into the store," and Target wants to know if the change can draw more people to grocery aisles. Hoffman, president of Minneapolis-based Corporate Strategies International, said that the key to the combined store's profitability is the grocery section because consumers purchase food more frequently than general merchandise.

As in Omaha, the Super Target's grocery area has separate deli, bakery, meat and seafood sections, as well as kiosks for fresh-squeezed fruit juices, candy and gourmet ground coffees. A nearby stand serves brewed coffee drinks and has a few tables for customers to enjoy their java, but it's not as elaborate as Omaha's coffee bar. The grocery's prepared foods and huge frozen-food section will probably be a hit with the area's 20,000 college students, Hoffman said.

Target also promoted the Lawrence Super Target's opening much more aggressively than the low-key announcements that preceded the Omaha opening. Target placed several full-page ads in the local paper in the week leading to the grand opening and staged a large fireworks show on Saturday night before the opening. On opening day at 7 a.m., store employees and company event staff members handed the first 1,000 customers a Super Target tote bag filled with samples and coupons, and celebrations continued throughout the day.

Judging by the huge crowds that flocked to Super Target on Saturday to shop and enjoy the fireworks, the ore certainly made an immediate impact. Lawrence resident Joan Baker said, "This is fantastic. I can buy clothes and groceries all in one trip and I don't need to run from store to store."

Baker added that she was especially impressed with the bakery section, which, in her opinion, rivals the one at Dillion's, which is an upscale Hutchinson, Kan.-based grocery chain with three Lawrence stores. But she still may shop at a local Hy-Vee for essential food items on the way home from work, she said.

While they packed several shopping bags into their car trunk, Jack and Joanne Smith evaluated Super Target and agreed that "it's great having everything in one place and it's good to have competition for Wal-Mart," which is located just across the street.

The Lawrence Wal-Mart is an experimental "green" store, which incorporates many different environmentally friendly and energy-saving innovations. Just north of the Wal-Mart is a 20-year-old Kmart, which has about 85,000 sq. ft. of retail space. Manager Doug Calyer said that the store has no immediate plans for either competing with Super Target or for renovations.

However, a Food 4 Less store on Iowa Street did respond quickly to the Super Target challenge by placing a display in its store close by the checkout to demonstrate to shoppers that its food does costless.

The display consisted of two supermarket carts, which were both filled with 52 identical grocery items. One set of 52 items was purchased at the Super Target and one set at the Food 4 Less. With enlarged receipts shown for proof above the carts, the Topeka-based supermarket chain claimed the 52 items cost $124.27 at the Lawrence Food 4 Less store and $149.84, or 20% more, at the new Super Target.

With four national discounters all competing for the area's consumer dollars, City Planner Sheila Stogsdill said that "How much is too much?" is a question that the city did consider when rezoning the property upon which Super Target was built from rural residential to commercial. However, the city council decided that the commercial activity on Iowa Street is not in direct competition with merchants in the city's downtown business district, she explained.