Target 2003 Annual Report Download - page 4

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In 2003, Target Corporation delivered $2.01 in earn-
ings per share, reflecting another year of double-digit
growth, primarily due to contributions from Target’s
merchandise operations and the Target Visa portfolio.
These contributions reflect continued strategic invest-
ments in our business that reinforce and enhance our
brand and increase our guests’ satisfaction. For example:
• To provide greater guest convenience, Target con-
structed 101 total new stores during 2003. Net of
relocations and closings, this store opening program
included 54 net new discount locations and 24 new
SuperTarget stores, amounting to 12.3 million net
new square feet, an increase of 8.8 percent.
• We refined our emphasis on “Wants and Needs”
within our merchandise assortment and our market-
ing campaigns in order to give our guests more
reasons to shop at Target more often and to generate
higher sales.
• We added more new distribution capacity than we
have ever added in a single year — four new regional
distribution centers and two new import warehouses
— to improve the efficiency, consistency and speed
of flowing products to our stores.
• We implemented hundreds of new technology appli-
cations and installed thousands of pieces of hardware
throughout our organization to make our guests’
experience more rewarding and to make our team
members’ work environment more productive and
more fun.
• We invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the
growth of the Target Visa portfolio, delivering more
value to our guests and producing a substantial
increase in revenues and receivables balances that
accounted for more than 100 percent of our overall
credit card operation’s annual growth.
• And we remained steadfast in our commitment to
support programs that improve the quality of life in
the communities where we operate, to embrace the
diversity of our guests and team members and to
perpetuate our heritage of strong corporate gover-
nance and integrity.
As we move into 2004 and beyond, we continue to
challenge ourselves to seize new opportunities to delight
our guests — to offer more fashion and differentiation,
“In addition, we are optimistic
about the potential future bene-
fits provided by other programs
we are pursuing, such as our
global sourcing and guest
relationship management efforts.
Many of these initiatives increas-
ingly reflect the integration
of cross-functional disciplines,
allowing us to leverage our
resources, improve our efficiency
and increase our overall agility
and speed.”
“As we move into 2004 and
beyond, we continue to challenge
ourselves to seize new oppor-
tunities to delight our guests
— to offer more fashion and
differentiation, greater value,
reliability and convenience,
quicker delivery of new product
and faster, friendlier service —
in short, to do what we have
always done, but better.”