The highly anticipated U.S. discounter Target Corp. will open its first three test stores in Canada on Tuesday, on track to roll out 124 this year. Globe and Mail reporter Marina Strauss and photographer Tim Fraser got a sneak peek inside a Guelph, Ont. store opening Tuesday.
Target’s new store in Guelph, Ont. – next to a Canadian Tire and Future Shop – will be one of three to open in Canada on March 5, 2013. (Tim Fraser for The Globe and Mail)
On March 4, Target Canada employees in Guelph prepare for the store’s opening Tuesday. (Tim Fraser for The Globe and Mail)
The popular U.S. retailer focuses on trendy, affordable fashion. (Tim Fraser for The Globe and Mail)
In 2011, Target reached a $1.8-billion deal with Zellers for most of its stores, which the U.S. retailer is converting to its own, spending $10 to $12-million on each one. (Tim Fraser for The Globe and Mail)
Target will test 24 other stores in Ontario this month before formal ‘grand openings’ in early April, when it will start to distribute flyers. (Tim Fraser for The Globe and Mail)
Target Canada president Tony Fisher leads the media on a tour of the store in Guelph on March 4, 2013. (Tim Fraser for The Globe and Mail)
Target Canada employees in Guelph work in the electronics department a day before the store’s opening. (Tim Fraser for The Globe and Mail)
Canadian Tire posts a ‘buy Canadian’ sign next door to Target’s new Guelph location. (Dave Chidley/THE CANADIAN PRESS)
The new Target has a grocery section at the back, with bakery goods – including some from Canadian baker Dufflet – packaged salad kits, pasta meals and dairy and frozen foods. (Tim Fraser for The Globe and Mail)
The popular U.S. retailer focuses on trendy, affordable fashion. (Tim Fraser for The Globe and Mail)
A sign inside Target’s Guelph store. (Tim Fraser for The Globe and Mail)
Prices appear to be attractive: 99 cents for a child’s plastic Easter basket at the entrance, along with a $32.98 bikini – strategically placed on a mannequin close to the entrance. (Tim Fraser for The Globe and Mail)
The Guelph store will be one of three Targets to open March 5. The others are in Fergus and Milton, Ontario. (Tim Fraser for The Globe and Mail)
Mr. Fisher explains some of the store’s features to a media tour on Monday. (Tim Fraser for The Globe and Mail)
Each store will have 150 to 200 staff, which is almost twice the number that Zellers had. (Tim Fraser for The Globe and Mail)
New checkouts allow cashiers to face customers in order to ‘engage’ better with them, Mr. Fisher said. (Tim Fraser for The Globe and Mail)
The Guelph store has 168 employees. (Tim Fraser for The Globe and Mail)
The outlet in Guelph will be one of the first three Target stores to open in Canada. (Tim Fraser for The Globe and Mail)
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