Targeting Millennials, Target Thinks Small

Retail chain Target has made a strategic decision to entice Millennials with smaller stores offering a customized product line in urban areas and college towns. The move, pioneered with limited succcess by Walmart but in suburban areas, is an attempt to reverse declining traffic and sales at its 1,800 suburban stores, as well as a 13 percent drop in stock value. One of the new smaller stores near the University of Minnesota campus has only 15 percent of the floor space of the big box stores. It stocks products used by college students, including miniature ironing boards and twin-size sheets, but no children’s toys or strollers. CEO Brian Cornell says the small-footprint stores are the wave of the future: “It could be a huge part of future growth outlook over time.” Walmart, however, has closed 100 of its suburban Walmart Express stores.