If Target wasn't already the most mom-friendly store on the planet, it certainly is now. Target's new toy space will feature a kids-focused toy experience, complete with kids' book section, interactive play experiences, and more. Just in time for the holiday shopping season, changes are coming to nearly 100 stores and your local Target could be one of them.
The majorly overhauled 100 stores will offer a new and remodeled toy environment featuring more signs, interactive displays, and toy-centric experiences. Oversized displays include big name characters like LEGO and Our Generation dolls. These stores will also have an expanded children's book section next to the toys, making it a parent's Christmas shopping dream come true.
Along with these remodeled stores, an additional 500 stores will boast larger toy sections, as Target Corp is dedicating roughly a quarter of a million square feet of new space for toy sections, according to Reuters. Larger toy sections include more rows of toys and provide room for larger toys such as Electric Ride-ons. The changes are an effort to win more sales during the holiday season, but also to "create a world catered to [Target's] littlest guests," as explained on the Target "Bullseye View" site.
With more space comes the opportunity for more options. Mark Tritton Target’s executive vice president and chief merchandising officer stated that customers will be able to choose from more than 2,500 new and exclusive toys, nearly twice as many as were offered in 2017, according to CNBNC. With Toys "R" Us no longer a rival for toys sales, Target jumped at the chance to beef up its toy selection for the holiday season.
Reimagined toy sections aren't the only changes coming to Target this year, though. “Overall, our preparation is really about providing more space, more remodels, more inventory, more choices, more exclusives, events, more marketing, more ways to shop and even more ways to ship this season,” Tritton said, as Reuters reported. This all-encompassing approach offers parents and children alike the chance to experience more from Target stores.
The "events" Tritton mentioned come in the form of 25,000 “hours of joy” events that will take place in store later this year. Kids attending can try out recently released toys and meet their favorite characters from PAW Patrol, Minecraft, L.O.L. Surprise! and more. These events serve as incentives for parents to shop in person, rather than simply ordering their kids' Christmas lists entirely. Shoppers can visit Target's store events page for details on specific events.
Often described as the "Amazon effect," the shift to online shopping has been persistent in recent years. And according to Forbes, it is the stores like Target that are willing to adapt that will succeed. "The physical stores that will be most competitive in the digital age will be those that are able to offer something online stores can’t," Forbes explained. "In some cases, this will mean the opportunity to physically experience the product ... or those that offer more convenience."
But Target isn't neglecting its online presence, despite the effort being put into revamping the brick-and-mortar stores. The website will be easier to search, with the company promising to help parents find “the perfect toys for every kid on their list.” Additionally, Target is releasing 22 million gift catalogs, both in homes and in stores, that will have 15 percent more toy pages than last year. Customers can scan these ads using the Target app to learn more about the products and add them to their online cart.
For most families with young children, toys are a big part of the holidays. Checking items off of your little one's list just got a whole lot easier — and more fun.
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