Target, Inc.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Members of the Retail Industry Leaders Association on Wednesday arrived in Joplin, Mo., to help clean up the Midwest city that was hard-hit in May by a category F-5 tornado.

That was the provocative, if somewhat dated, question Smart Money used as a headline on a story this week based on a consumer survey conducted by Morgan Stanley analyst Mark Wiltamuth. He initiated coverage of Walmart with an ambiguous “equal weight” rating and was quoted as saying, “Many consumers no longer think Walmart has the lowest prices.”

Washington, D.C. — A report released Thursday by the U.S. Commerce Department showed that retail sales in June experienced a slight uptick of 0.1%. This comes on the heels of a 0.1% dip in May, the first time in 11 months that sales fell. 

The June resurgence was attributed to a rise in auto sales and increased spending in big chain stores. Sales excluding gasoline rebounded 0.3% after declining 0.2% in May.

Sales at general merchandise stores, which include Wal-Mart and Target, increased 0.4% on warmer weather and aggressive discounting. 

MINNEAPOLIS — Target announced that it will once again offer its "Back in Black Friday" online-only sale on July 15. The sale will start around midnight (PST) and end at 11:59 p.m. at Target.com/BlackFriday.

“Target is always looking at ways to provide our guests with outstanding value,” said Steve Eastman, president of Target.com. “Our Back in Black Friday online-only sale is a great example – offering our guests a summer Black Friday with thousands of deals on their favorite products.”

MINNEAPOLIS — Free Standing Insert coupon activity dropped 3.9% over the first six months of 2011 versus the same time period a year ago, Marx, a Kantar Media solution, reported on Wednesday. 

The decline is the first reported in the first half of the year since 2008, when there was a 3.4% decline. 

“After several years of significant growth, FSI coupon activity may be stabilizing while more integrated print and digital coupon promotion tactics are emerging,” stated Mark Nesbitt, president of Kantar Media Intelligence North America.

NEW YORK — Target Corp. has won approval to put its signature red logo on one of Chicago's most famous buildings. The Permit Review Committee of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks on Thursday approved the chain’s request to allow its bull's eye to be placed on its new store planned for downtown Chicago.

Overall, the number of inserts and pages declined slightly across the retailer set in June 2011 versus June 2010.

The Permit Review Committee of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks last week gave Target the green light to incorporate a number of branding elements to the retail space its first CityTarget store will occupy in the Sullivan Center in downtown Chicago.

Renderings of the building show red awnings on the building’s exterior and the company’s Bulls Eye logo visible though the windows of the signature rotunda entrance at the corner of State and Madison streets. There are also wide red banners evenly spaced and visible through exterior windows.

Boasting a high resolution screen, long battery life and fast page-turn performance, a new e-reader called the iriver Story HD is set to hit Target stores this weekend. The product is a big deal because it integrates with Google eBooks and Target will be the exclusive retailer of the device, at least for a while as exclusives on hot new electronics items tend to be fleeting.

Delinquency rates in Target’s credit card portfolio are now at their lowest level in three years as more people are paying their bills on time. It is an encouraging sign for the long-term health of the nation’s economy to know that people are increasingly using credit in a responsible manner, at least those who have a Target card anyway, and therefore more likely to honor their obligations.