Target 2003 Annual Report Download - page 7

5
The Right Brands, Right Now
Of course, satisfying our guests’ needs is only part of the
equation. To retain our reputation as a cool place to shop,
we consistently deliver differentiated merchandising, too.
Our competitive advantage lies in our ability to surprise
and delight our guests on every visit — offering them the
opportunity to fill their baskets with what they want while
allowing them to buy what they need.
Design partnerships clearly set Target apart from other
discount retailers. Our guests know and want products
by Isaac Mizrahi, Liz Lange, Sonia Kashuk, Michael Graves,
and Mossimo. Names such as these add excitement to
our assortment and enhance the Target image with our
guests, while our sourcing expertise, scale and brand
strength give these renowned names broad distribution
at uniquely affordable prices.
We also delight our guests by offering trusted national
brands that include Genuine Kids by OshKosh, Virgin Pulse,
Bialetti, Waverly and Woolrich. These brands provide the
reliability and quality our guests demand and their
exclusivity at Target reinforces our unique positioning in
the discount channel.
Among discount retailers, Target is unquestionably the
leader in trend merchandising and innovation. In fact,
in 2003, Target became the first general merchandise
retailer to receive an award from the Smithsonian
Institution’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum for
helping advance the relationship between design and the
quality of life. The talent and experience of our in-house
product design and development team, in combination
with the extensive resources of Associated Merchandising
Corp. (AMC), our global sourcing organization, enable
Target to offer owned brands, such as Merona, Xhilaration
and Room Essentials, that represent current-season
fashion and themes at considerable savings to similar
specialty-store items. By leveraging technology and
working directly with manufacturers around the globe,
AMC ensures that our goods are produced in accordance
with our high-quality, low-cost standards and meet our
speed-to-market objectives. As other companies work
to create their own sourcing organizations, we continue to
enhance Target’s sourcing power, speed new products
to our guests and maintain competitive prices.
Guest Demographics
Our commitment to pleasing
our guests is inherent
in our strategy: it drives our
merchandising as well as
many of our investment and
operating decisions. As a
result, we strongly believe that
we need to know our guest
and understand her prefer-
ences. Though we recognize
and respect the individuality
of each guest, our research
suggests that more than
90 percent of our guests are
female with a median age
of 45 years. Approximately
one-half have earned a college
degree and about 40 percent
have school-age children
at home. By continuing to
supplement this guest profile,
we are better able to satisfy
each guest’s wants and needs.
Trusted National Brands As a complement to our owned brands and exclusive design partnerships,
we also offer our guests the quality and trend of such trusted national brands as Waverly, Calphalon,
Virgin Pulse and Sony Liv.