Target Corp. plans to lean on Greek yogurt, bagged coffee, and craft beers in an effort to make its grocery aisles feel less like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and to attract younger shoppers.
Target has zeroed in on seven grocery categories — from granola and yogurt to candy and snacks — where it thinks it has the best chance of standing out to urban dwellers, younger families and Hispanics, two people familiar with the matter said. Along with a proclaimed goal of adding more organic, natural and gluten-free foods, Target is showing signs that its food direction will become less reliant on packaged and processed foods that are out of favor with many millennial consumers.
Fixing grocery — which accounts for about a fifth of Target’s $73 billion in annual sales — is a priority for Target’s new Chief Executive Brian Cornell. Target expanded its grocery offerings in the hopes that shoppers would come to stores for low-margin food items and then indulge in purchases of higher profit items like a new blouse.
