Target, Inc.

Target Corp. leads other retailers when it comes to reaching and attracting qualified talent.    The discounter ranked the highest (at No. 26) among Fortune 500 retail-ers for employment branding in a study by global talent solutions com-pany WilsonHCG. Target was followed by Publix (No. 42), The Home Depot (No. 50), Walmart (No. 64), Nordstrom (No. 77) and Whole Foods Market (No. 115). No retailer cracked the top 10, which was led by Gen-eral Electric, Johnson & Johnson and AT&T.       

More than 100 retailers and trade associations, including Walgreens Boot Alliance, Rite Aid, Walmart and Target, have joined the Americans for Affordable Products coalition in an effort to stop the Border Adjustment Tax, otherwise known as BAT, which is a component of the U.S. House Republican tax reform proposal.  

On the heels of a less than stellar holiday, Target Corp. is scaling back on some parts of its innovation agenda in order to concentrate on its core business.    The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that Target has scrapped its highly secretive e-commerce startup called Goldfish, and also has shelved a prototype for a store of the future, complete with robots, that was due to be built soon.

Nordstrom Rack is going to set up shop in a rapidly expanding area of Los Angles.    The retailer will open an approximately 27,000-sq.-st. store in fall 2017 at FIGat7th, an open-air center in the heart of downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) owned and operated by Brookfield Property Partners L.P.   The new Nordstrom Rack will join Target, H&M, Victoria's Secret, MAC and other retailers and restaurants at the center, which located at 7th & Figueroa Street.  

Pinterest is taking its search program to the next level.   The social media site now offers Search Ads, a feature that enables retailers to run ads as “pinners” type keywords into the search bar. The program, which started as a limited test, is now comprised of a full suite of features, including keyword and shopping campaigns that are shown in search results, as well as new targeting and reporting options, Pinterest’s head of global sales, Jon Kaplan, said in the company’s blog.  

Groundbreaking on a 500,000-sq.-ft. shopping center in Southern California has been postponed due to changes in the developer’s plan ‘and a need for improvements to the surrounding roadway.   The 50-acre site in Murrieta, a town of 103,000 people located halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego, was purchased by a limited partnership last year for $18 million. The owners are working with Caltrans for improvements needed on nearby Winchester Road.  

In its newest partnership, Target has joined up with BaubleBar, the online fast-fashion jewelry brand.   The two companies have come together for a new collection, called Sugarfix by BaubleBar, that will feature original designs and pieces inspired by the brand's most popular styles. The line will be available exclusively on Target.com and in some 900 Target stores beginning Jan. 31.  

Although it’s only one of many tax proposals being floating around, the so-called border adjustment tax has raised a red flag among many retailers.    The CEO of Target Corp., Brian Cornell, recently visited Washington to lobby against the House Republican proposal, according to Fortune, which noted the visit was first reported by Politico.  

Target Corp. is entering the mobile payments arena.       Following similar moves by such competitors as Walmart and Kohl’s, the discounter plans to introduce mobile payment features to one or more of its own apps, according to a report by Recode.   

Every year after the holidays the same topics seem to dominate media coverage of the retail industry. The numbers are in, who’s closing stores? Who’s going out of business? Who are this year’s casualties in the great Clicks vs. Bricks War? This focus on post-holiday attrition is part of a larger conversation about the future of retail, one often tinged by notes of panic, dire predictions, and dramatic pronouncements such as: Online retail is damaging brick-and-mortar. Malls are dead! Retailers are shuttering hundreds of stores!