Greatland offers more space, attention - Dayton-Hudson Corp. Target Stores' Target Greatland, Apple Valley, Minnesota store - Prototypes & Presentations

Discount Store News, April 15, 1991 by Don Longo

Greatland Offers More Space, Attention

Establishes Itself as a `Retail Institution' Without Obsoleting Conventional Targets

APPLE VALLEY, Minn. -- Target's huge 169,000-square-foot Greatland store, which opened in this Minneapolis suburb last September, proves that a general merchandise retailer can significantly increase the appeal of its stores by devoting more space and attention to customer service and shopper comfort.

Target Greatland opened at a time when many industry observers were being extremely critical of large superstore concepts, such as the hypermarkets, which have had enormous difficulty competing in the U.S. retail market.

The new Target prototype differs from other supersized models opened by such chains as Wal-Mart, Kmart and ShopKo because it does not feature a grocery or supermarket section.

To gauge the effectiveness of Target Greatland, DSN commissioned the research firm of Leo J. Shapiro & Associates, Chicago, to study consumer response to the new store.

Shapiro interviewed reps of 200 households living within a five-mile radius of the Apple Valley, Minn., store. The queries were conducted in November 1990, about 60 days after the store's grand opening.

The exclusive study for DSN uncovered several major points:

* Greatland is a store for Target customers, or more accurately, the site of the first Greatland prototype in a trading area brimming with Target shoppers. * Nearly everyone in the market was aware of the grand opening of the Greatland store. * Greatland has not soured shoppers on shopping at traditional Target stores. * The huge size of the store enhances rather than detracts from the shopping experience. * Greatland's overall appeal is greater than the sum of

its parts. In other words, its individual departments are not seen as especially superior to those at other retailers, yet the store on the whole is preferred by most shoppers. * Target appears to be generating more dollars from its customers by retailing to them via both the Greatland and traditional prototypes. * Most customers do not see any difference in prices at Greatland, compared to their typical Target store, but they do feel that Greatland offers superior customer service.

Of the 200 households interviewed, 199 had shopped at a Target store within the past year, with the average making 20 trips. Almost half had shopped at the Target in Burnsville, Minn., about a quarter shopped in Eagan, and a sixth of the households had been to the Bloomington Target. The average household expenditure during the past year at Target was a mean of $719.

After Target (99.5% of respondents shopped there in the past year), the other most-of-ten shopped retailers in the market are: Kmart (84%), Cubs Food (81.5%), Sears (78%), and Montgomery Ward (52%).

Testament to Target's advertising clout, nearly everyone (95%) was aware of the Greatland opening in Apple Valley, and more than half (54%) had already been there by the time of the interview. Most who had visited the store had already made two or more shopping trips.

Amazingly, 8.4% of Greatland's customers went five times or more. The mean number of visits by all Greatland shoppers was four times in just 60 days.

Even among households that had not yet been to the Target Greatland store, nearly two-thirds (62%) said they were planning to go. Respondents who had already shopped Greatland live, on average, 11 minutes away from the store; those yet to shop there live 17 minutes away. In a very short time, Target Greatland has established itself as a "retail institution" in the area, according to George Rosenbaum, vice president for the well-known consumer/retail research firm. Greatland "already has relationships with better than one-half of the households, and most of the remainder plan to use it as a shopping resource."

Greatland has not replaced, or obsoleted, the conventional Target stores in the market. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of those who have shopped at Greatland said they will continue shopping at their conventional Target. Even among those who have shopped two or more times at Greatland, two out of three (64%) said they will continue to shop at their conventional Target.

Unlike hypermarkets, whose large size is often viewed as a barrier to a pleasant shopping experience, Greatland's additional footage is a major appeal. Consumers believe the larger size enables Greatland to provide more merchandise, both in depth of selection and merchandise variety. That's a major contrast to hypermarkets, which tend to carry a much narrower selection in their general merchandise area than a full-line discount store.

Shoppers also feel the size of the store helps makes the shopping experience more comfortable and efficient. They cite improved checkout time and stocking of merchandise at Greatland. They cite less congestion through wider aisles. They also mentioned customer courtesy phones, extra sales help and bigger shopping carts.

Innovative Enhancements

They neglected to mention one of Target Greatland's most innovative customer service enhancements: bar code readers in various aisles so that shoppers can scan shelfpriced products for a quick reading of their price.