Retail News Update

In a bid to increase business and customer count, Minneapolis-based Target Corp. will add new store-within-a-store grocery and fresh foods mini markets in about 100 new and remodeled stores during the course of this year, according to Progressivegrocer.com. If deemed a success, the company may eventually expand the section to all of its stores, said Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel in press reports. Although Target has long offered a full array of groceries at its SuperTarget stores, as well as a scaled-down presentation of food and beverages in most of its other stores, the latest iteration of its food-focused format aims to increase those offerings in its standard-size stores. The chain first tested the concept last year at two Twin Cities, Minn., stores and added eight additional test locations in other states earlier this year. The test stores now carry 50 percent to 200 percent more food products than its traditional stores, including a more prominent array of fresh produce, meats and bakery items in roughly 1,500 sq. ft. of space.