Lawn & garden dept. thinks green - Target Stores - Target Power Merchandising

Discount Store News, April 18, 1994

Target is greening up its lawn & Garden departments in an attempt to cash in on the boom in live plants and diversify from its concentration on the decorative end of the business.

In the Sunbelt markets in Florida, California and the Southwest, nearly all Target stores operate outdoor garden centers, and they stay open year-round in frost-free markets.

Whether a store gets a garden center is decided on a store-by-store basis, said Bob Guelich, senior vice president and general merchandise manager for the category. In more northern stores, Target follows a bridge strategy, Guelich said, operating seasonal garden centers in parking lots.

But Target has no plans to operate year-round greenhouses, Guelich said. The garden center in the new Target store opened last month in Pasadena, Calif., is one of the most unique, built atop a three-level parking garage.

Since the Target store is a converted, three-story department located in downtown Pasadena, space is at a premium, and the store site has no ground-level space for a center.

It will operate year round, said store manager David Parker. During Halloween, the store will bring in pumpkins and at Christmas live Christmas trees.

While much of the nation was still thawing out from the winter cold, the Pasadena garden center was in full bloom, carrying a wide selection of bedding plants and shrubs already in color.

Selections included: camellias, 3-gal. size, $15.99; Jasmine vine, $14.99; roses, $5.44; azaleas, 1-gal. size, $2.99; begonias, petunias and snapdragons, 1-gal., $1.99; and 42-plant flats of pansies, alyssum, marigold and ice plant, $8.99.

Unlike a typical Wal-Mart garden center, the Pasadena Target carried no fruit or shade trees.

The grand opening circular announced that Target is carrying a new category, concrete yard and garden statuary and promoting the line at 20% off. The circular also advertised planters from Duraco and Duracotta clay-look plastic planters also at 20% off.

Another new line for Target is electric lawn trimmers from Toro, on ad at $24.99, $29.99 and $34.99.

A plastic sunscreen protects the live plants in a rooftop center enclosed only by hurricane fencing. The center has its own registers, so shoppers can wheel their purchases directly to their cars. A parking garage elevator connects all three parking levels and a bridge connects the garage to the second floor, where the indoor portion of lawn & garden is tucked away in the left rear corner.

Target generally devotes about 3,000 sq. ft. to the lawn & garden department. True Temper is the sole supplier of garden tools, while Scott's and Ortho dominate 90% of the seed and garden chemicals business at Target. Roundup also provides weed and grass killer. In hose reels, Target selected Suncast as its vendor and uses Swan to provide hoses.

One of the over-arching merchandising principles at Target is product differentiation, said Linda Ahlers, senior vice president and general merchandise manager in hard lines.

And its power mower offerings illustrate that principal at work. In power mowers, Target offers a special makeup line from MTD called Lawnflite.

As a Great Buy, promoted as "available only" at Target, the grand opening circular advertised a Lawnflite, 21-inch, self-propelled rear-bag convertible mulcher at $249.88. To keep the price down, Target specified a 3.75-horsepower Briggs & Stratton engine. Self-propelled mulchers of that size typically are powered by 5-horsepower engines and sell in the $279 to $299 range.