Target Opens First Canadian Stores

[Toy Gremlin]

Originally Posted by protoform_ironhide

I really don't mind to pay a buck or two more if they continue having new items and bigger selection on the shelves unlike Zellers... or those insane markup people selling on Ebay seriously.

Yeah, I don't mind paying a little more either. Just not those insane Zellers markups on exclusives.

Originally Posted by protoform_ironhide

I just checked the Target website. The first one to be open in BC seems like it will be at Coquitlam Center!

Cool! Good to know!

[Robimus]

In the USA prices at Target are generally more than prices at Walmart on toys. I would not be surprised to see them follow that notion here.

What I hope will happen will be more sales, more price matching and a better selection of merch all the way around.

Zellers was a perfect example of how to fail at retail. They are still charging $24.99(50% off now so $12.50) for Wave 1 of Transformers Prime. The whole lets double the price and then have a sale ploy is a complete failure. First people get wise, then people stop shopping at your store. Case closed.

[cobralegion]

From what I've read they are basically Zellers prices..Higher then Walmart but then who isn't higher then Walmart. Of course Walmart never has anything so lets hope Target is at least better stocked. I wouldn't mind paying a little more as long as they actually get stuff in. At least Zellers got product in while now I'm forced to go the Walmart and see the same empty shelves. I'm hoping Target actually plans on fighting Walmart but I think they will just come in and take over Zellers old spot as the number 2 retailer.

[canprime]

I don't know where people are getting their info, but Target isn't going to be charging "Zellers" type pricing. Zellers overcharged by a lot in the last few years. So much more than Walmart. Target has a practice in the US, that I'm sure will be brought up hear of staying as close to Walmart as possible in pricing.

On the flipside, Walmart has a policy of being the lowest price, even if it is only by a couple of pennies.

So far from what I have seen, that is going to be the case up here as well.

[robsonspen]

uugh, Coquitlam....

yeah. a few bucks is fine, unlike ebay...

[tekkamanraiden]

Originally Posted by Robimus

In the USA prices at Target are generally more than prices at Walmart on toys. I would not be surprised to see them follow that notion here.

What I hope will happen will be more sales, more price matching and a better selection of merch all the way around.

Zellers was a perfect example of how to fail at retail. They are still charging $24.99(50% off now so $12.50) for Wave 1 of Transformers Prime. The whole lets double the price and then have a sale ploy is a complete failure. First people get wise, then people stop shopping at your store. Case closed.

Being overpriced is certainly part of it, the other is the fact that they could not/did not turnover their inventory. You could easily find items from 3 to 7 years ago sitting on their shelves.

As for pricing I'm expecting they to be on par or a little bit better that TRU. There is no way they are going to match Walmart and I don't expect them to considering no retailer does.

[Robimus]

So far it sounds like they are close to Walmart pricing on toys from the reports I've read. If they maintain that its a bonus.

Whenever I go down to the USA Target is around 10% higher than Walmart on toys, sales excluded of course.

And the Target clearance section is always worth a look in the states. I hope it works the same way here.

[protoform_ironhide]

I am not sure if u guys check out the other sections at Targets down the States. I check their clothing section all the time, the quality is definitely better than those compare to walmart, and they aren't expensive. Same for the baby section. Just had a newborn recently, and I went down to the States just because of their Target.

[Napseeker]

Worth noting too, I saw in the news report yesterday that Target Canada will have two useful features:
- they will price match competitor's flyers
- they offer a Target card that gives you an additional 5% off their prices

Flyer matching is kind of standard nowadays but this would be handy for anyone who lives closer to a Target than a TRU and can just bring in the TRU flyer to get the same deal (unless of course, Target won't match the %-off type sales, which Zellers stopped doing in its last 2 years).

[cobralegion]

Originally Posted by canprime

I don't know where people are getting their info, but Target isn't going to be charging "Zellers" type pricing. Zellers overcharged by a lot in the last few years. So much more than Walmart. Target has a practice in the US, that I'm sure will be brought up hear of staying as close to Walmart as possible in pricing.

On the flipside, Walmart has a policy of being the lowest price, even if it is only by a couple of pennies.

So far from what I have seen, that is going to be the case up here as well.

Well if you read any thread on Target you'll see everyone complain that they are overpriced. An example would be the Alpha bike..Its $14 at Walmart while 21.99 at Target ( in the USA) And if you search online you'll see a news story where they price checked the first 3 Targets that have opened up here and they were pretty much higher on everything.A toy example used was the game Monopoly..its 12.00 at Walmart Canada/12.34 at Target USA and 19.59 at Target Canada.They'll mark things down for sales of course and it will be great to get the Target exclusives. I'm hoping they do try to fight Walmart but seeing these first few stores doesn't make me hopeful.

Zellers cut out the price matching and started going price crazy at the end because HBC ( The Bay) wanted to make as much money as possible before selling it off. Zellers wasn't a failure..Im not sure if people think it was sold because it was doing poorly but it wasn't...it was number 2 behind Walmart which isn't exactly a bad thing. Thats why Target bought Zellers.. in the end the US firm that owns The Bay, Fields(now closed), home Outfitters and Zellers paid 700 million for the lot and sold just the Zellers leases for 1.8 billion. not a bad profit.


The thing I'll miss the most about Zellers is the after Xmas clearance sales...70-80% off. Got a lot of great deals