Target to Drop TargetExpress & CityTarget Names

MINNEAPOLIS — Target Corp. is looking to end customer confusion by streamlining the names of its retail properties.

The retailer added CityTarget and TargetExpress to its portfolio as it rolled out smaller-format stores. CityTarget stores, located in dense urban areas, are generally smaller than Target's other big-box stores. However, the CityTarget location next to Fenway Park in Boston bucked that trend when it opened at the end of July, according to the Star Tribune.

CityTarget stores typically range in size from 80,000 to 160,000 square feet, yet they are among Target's highest traffic locations, according to the company, as CSNews Online previously reported.

The Target store on Nicollet Mall next to the Minneapolis-based retailer's headquarters is in the middle of a dense part of the city, but it was not considered a CityTarget, the Star Tribune reported. 

Now, Target is looking to avoid confusion by eliminating the CityTarget and TargetExpress banners. All those stores will be rebranded Target, the report stated.

"It's about a simplified experience for our guests," said Erika Winkels, a Target spokeswoman. "It also helps guests understand that you're not only limited to what's in the four walls of that store."

For example, Target placed iPads throughout the smaller-format stores for customers to buy items directly from Target.com. Shoppers then have the option to have those items delivered to their homes or pick them up in the store.

"At Target, one of our strengths is the flexibility in our store design. Over the years, we've explored many different formats that help us tailor our stores to fit their neighborhoods. In the last three years, we introduced flexible formats called CityTarget and TargetExpress in 14 locations across the country. These stores vary in size and assortment, and allow us to create a more locally relevant experience for guests in urban areas. But big or small, our stores have one thing in common: They're all Target," the company said in an Aug. 4 blog post on its website.

"What better way to stand behind that promise than with our own bulls-eye? So beginning this fall, we'll begin the process of renaming all of our CityTarget and TargetExpress stores [to] 'Target.' We'll rebrand those stores, both the new and existing, with our bulls-eye logo. You'll see the changes start to happen in October," the company explained.