Target, Inc.

Minneapolis -- Target Corp. said Monday that it will open 17 southwestern Ontario, Canada store on March 19 and another four on March 28, on the heels of three successful pilot-store launches in the area.

The added slate of openings, said Target, will allow the retailer more opportunity to volume-test in advance of April grand opening dates.

In open-air, context often trumps content

Expect no prophesying about the death of enclosed malls. The format is alive and well, and there are countless examples of thriving under-roof shopping centers around the country.

Still, there is no question that the open-air format has stolen mall thunder.

Senior executives from Yahoo! and Ecolab are the newest members of the board of directors at Target.

The retailer late Wednesday announced the addition of Douglas M. Baker, Jr., chairman and CEO of Ecolab Inc., and Henrique De Castro, COO of Yahoo! Inc., to its board, effective immediately.

Baker, 54, is a 24-year veteran at St. Paul, Minn.-based Ecolab. Prior to being named president and CEO in July 2004, Baker held key roles in marketing, sales and general management in both the U.S. and Europe. He became chairman in May 2006.

Scott Kennedy was named president of Target financial and retail service to replace long time finance executive Terry Scully.

Scully spent nearly 35 years with Target and is moving into a strategic advisory role to ensure the smooth transition of the recently sold credit card portfolio to TD Bank Group. Scully, 60, will officially retire in March 2014. Filling his shoes as head of financial and retail services is Scott Kennedy, 44. He joined Target in 2005 and currently serves as VP of pay and benefits.

Gap Inc., Ebay, Safeway, Wegmans, Whole Foods, Costco, Target, Best Buy and OfficeMax were all named to Ethisphere Institute’s World’s Most Ethical Companies list.

The companies were chosen based on an evaluation of a questionnaire provided by Ethisphere to determine each company’s Ethics Quotient (EQ).

Companies were evaluated for their own ethics policies and enforcement of such policies, ethical track record and reputation in the market place, corporate governance, corporate responsibilities and culture of ethics.

SAN FRANCISCO — Target has agreed to buy Chefs Catalog from JH Partners, LLC, a private equity firm specializing in investing growth capital in consumer-focused companies. 

Chefs Catalog is a leading direct-to-consumer specialty retailer of top-rated cookware, bake ware, cutlery, kitchen tools and cooking utensils including such brands as All-Clad, Cuisinart and Kitchenaid.  JH Partners acquired Colorado Springs, Colorado-based Chefs Catalog from The Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. in 2004. 

Minneapolis -- Target Corp. has made two e-commerce acquisitions aimed at expanding its presence in the growing cooking and kitchenware market. The retailer said it has acquired CHEFS Catalog and assets of Cooking.com in two separate transactions.  

New York -- Target is expanding its retail clinic presence in the Chicago area, according to the Chicago Tribune.
 
The retailer plans to open three in-store health clinics — two in the suburbs and one in the city — in the Chicago area, the report said. Construction is scheduled to start on May 28, and grand openings are planned for Aug. 18. The Target on Division Street, scheduled to open in October, will also have a clinic.

Minneapolis -- Scott Kennedy was named president of Target financial and retail service to replace long time finance executive Terry Scully.

Scully spent nearly 35 years with Target and is moving into a strategic advisory role to ensure the smooth transition of the recently sold credit card portfolio to TD Bank Group. Scully, 60, will officially retire in March 2014. Filling his shoes as head of financial and retail services is Scott Kennedy, 44. He joined Target in 2005 and currently serves as VP of pay and benefits.

TORONTO — Target Canada has announced its first entertainment sponsorship with three-time Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter Michael Bublé. The retailer will sell an exclusive deluxe edition of Bublé's highly anticipated sixth studio album, "To Be Loved."  The exclusive version of the album, featuring three bonus tracks, will hit stores April 22 and continue to be available as Target stores open across Canada throughout 2013.