Target - The Apple of Mass Merchandisers

Target is a retail innovator. Target created its first designer line of home goods in 1999 by collaboration with architect Michael Graves. Then in 2002, Target went hipster with the concept introducing a line of house wares by popular designer Todd Oldham. But of course, timing is everything. While it did well and even lead a trend among mass merchandisers to produce their own celebrity backed products (Martha Stewart for Kmart), Target didn’t let the idea end there. In 2005, when the collective purse strings tightened Target expanded their collaborations into fashion and hit pay dirt.



The Go International campaign which features affordable clothes from high end fashion designers for a limited time has been tremendously successful in cementing Target as the high mark for mass merchandisers. Designers Proenza Schouler, Zac Posen and Jean Paul Gaultier have participated in the Go International program, garnering rave attention for Target and surely buoying designers who saw some economic shrinkage as a result of the economy. Consumers thrust into survival mode began patronizing the Targets and Walmarts much more than they did in the golden years to the dismay of high end retailers and designers. The Go International licensing deal allows Target to fully capitalize on that fashionista that now has a budget – the newly coined budgetnista. In the meantime these designers can stay on their consumers’ radar while they are on shopping hiatus as well as open up to a new market without degrading the brand by taking a sustained low price position or investing in an “affordable” line.

When Target launched Missoni’s product line earlier this month, it sold out in hours, crashed the site and received tons of media attention in the days before and after the record release. This week the company has announced a line of children’s clothes by musician and design sweetheart Gwen Stefani. It’s sure to garner a similar response. While we’re clearly still in the throws of an unstable financial market and record unemployment, it’s also clear that the right product can wrench the dollars out of consumers’ hands. No matter the economy, people will still line up for the release of a new Apple gadget or clear the shelves of the right designer clothing, provided the price is just right.