Price gap? What price gap?

Too bad Target isn’t holding a meeting for the financial community this fall the way Walmart did last week. It would have been interesting to get the company’s take on the pricing and competitive environment following Walmart’s announcement of weekly holiday prices cuts, and the frequently stated assertion that not only does Walmart intend to be the pricing leader, but it also plans to widen the gap. Such statements afforded Walmart some great media coverage that positioned the retailer as a company looking to help Americans and global consumers get through challenging times. However, for Target, the notion of widening the gap is an affront to the company’s new low-price promise and begs the question, what gap? Target has asserted for years that it is competitive on price, and now it formally backs up that claim with a low-price promise and shopper marketing efforts which scream value in stores.

Target executives will have an opportunity to comment on the pricing and competitive environment and provide insight on the holidays, when the company reports third-quarter results on Nov. 17.