AT ONE of Target’s shops in downtown Chicago, one recent weekend, customers congregated in the electronics department and the area that sells towels and bedding. Upstairs, the women’s clothes department was almost deserted. A quick examination of its stock revealed why: dowdy dresses, garish sweaters and jackets that any reasonably fashion-conscious woman under 60 would surely spurn.
For many shoppers, Target no longer hits the spot. In its annual results this week it admitted that the cost of retreating from a disastrous foray into Canada, and of closing underperforming shops in America, would be a whopping $5.1 billion.
It is an astonishing reversal of fortune. A decade ago Target had such a chic image that people called it “Tar-zhay” with a faux French accent. The Minneapolis-based discounter thrived after reinventing itself as a seller of designer-label clothing at affordable prices. It teamed up with designers such as Alexander McQueen, Proenza Schouler and Zac Posen, and attracted young, predominantly female shoppers with higher disposable incomes...
from The Economist: Business http://ift.tt/1Bh7R04
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