49 Fun Facts About Target

In which city is Target Corporation headquartered?

Target Corporation is headquartered in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, where its corporate campus houses roughly 6,000 office employees.

What is the name of Target's dog mascot?

Bullseye, the white dog in Target's commercials, first appeared in the 'Sign of the Times' television campaign and has since been played by several look-alike dogs.

Target's canine mascot is what breed of dog?

Target's mascot is a white bull terrier; several look-alike dogs share the role, and the red rings around one eye are applied with non-toxic make-up.

Where and when did the first Target store open?

By the end of that first year there were four stores, all in Minnesota; the original site is now a SuperTarget.

Target began as a discount offshoot of which Minnesota department-store company?

Target was created as the discount division of Dayton's; the department-store company merged with Hudson's in 1969 to form the Dayton-Hudson Corporation.

Why was the new discount chain given a name and logo unconnected to the company that owned it in 1962?

The owners wanted shoppers not to connect the discount chain with their upscale department stores, so publicity director Stewart Widdess coined the unrelated name 'Target' to hide its department-store roots.

The company that became Target was founded in 1902 under what name?

Goodfellow Dry Goods was the downtown store George Dayton acquired in 1902; it was renamed for him in 1903 and grew into the department-store chain that later launched Target.

What does Target call its customers?

Target calls its shoppers 'guests'; in the same vocabulary, store employees are 'team members' and their supervisors 'team leaders'.

Which Italian fashion house's 2011 Target collaboration overwhelmed Target.com on launch day?

Missoni for Target launched on September 13, 2011; demand crashed Target.com for much of the day and most of the collection sold out within days.

Which architect designed the Washington Monument's restoration scaffolding, then Target's first designer line in 1999?

Michael Graves, the architect behind the monument's much-praised scaffolding, launched a Target housewares line of teakettles and toasters that began the chain's 'cheap chic' designer strategy.

Target's slogan pairs 'Expect More' with what?

'Expect More. Pay Less.' has been Target's slogan since 1994, summing up its pitch of trend-forward merchandise at discount prices.

What discount did Target's REDcard introduce on every purchase in 2010?

The 5% discount launched in October 2010 and carried over to the renamed Circle Card; the debit version pulls straight from a checking account, and TD Bank issues the credit cards through 2030.

Roughly how many customers were affected by Target's December 2013 data breach?

Up to 110 million people were hit: about 40 million card numbers plus personal data on up to 70 million more; the chief information officer resigned the following March.

Target expanded into which country in 2013, only to close all 133 stores by April 2015?

Target Canada opened its first stores in March 2013 and was gone within two years; the exit cost the parent a pre-tax writedown of about $5.4 billion.

Which coffee chain's counters became a Target fixture through a partnership expanded in 2003?

Starbucks cafés inside Target are licensed stores staffed by Target employees rather than Starbucks baristas, which is why they sit under Target's roof at the store entrance.

Which pharmacy chain bought Target's in-store pharmacies and clinics in 2015 for about $1.9bn?

CVS Health paid about $1.9 billion for Target's roughly 1,660 pharmacies and 80 clinics, rebranding them as CVS Pharmacy and MinuteClinic.

The first SuperTarget hypermarket, with a full grocery department, opened in 1995 in which city?

The first SuperTarget opened in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1995, adding a full grocery department to the larger 'Target Greatland' format the chain had introduced in 1990.

Target's grocery-expansion store prototype introduced in 2008 was called what?

PFresh, piloted in 2008 and rolled out from 2009, added open-air coolers of fresh produce, meat, dairy and baked goods to ordinary Target stores that lacked a full grocery department.

Which grocery-delivery start-up did Target acquire in December 2017 for more than half a billion dollars?

Shipt, founded in Birmingham, Alabama, in 2014, cost Target $550 million and was kept running as a wholly owned subsidiary under its own brand.

Target owns the naming rights to the home arena of which NBA team?

Target Center, home of the Minnesota Timberwolves since it opened in 1990, carries the retailer's name; the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx play there too.

Target Field, opened in 2010, is the home ballpark of which Major League Baseball team?

The Minnesota Twins moved into Target Field, an open-air ballpark in the city's North Loop warehouse district, in April 2010 after 28 seasons indoors at the Metrodome.

In 2018 Target opened its first store in which state, the last without one?

Vermont was the final state to get a Target; the first opened in South Burlington in October 2018, completing the chain's presence in all 50 states.

Which department-store chains did Target Corporation sell off in 2004 to focus on its discount stores?

Marshall Field's went to May Department Stores; Mervyn's fetched $1.65 billion from an investor group.

A 2012 New York Times story revealed Target's data model spotted a customer was what before her father knew?

Target's purchase model flagged the teenager as pregnant; her father complained about the baby-product coupons, then apologised after learning she really was expecting, as Charles Duhigg's 2012 story recounted.

A 2006 Washington Post report revealed Target runs two of what unusual facilities?

Target's two forensics laboratories, in Las Vegas and its home city, take on work for outside police forces and have helped the FBI, Secret Service and ATF with cases unrelated to shoplifting.

Which online retailer ran Target.com's fulfilment and customer service until 2011?

Amazon hosted Target.com and handled its orders and customer service for most of a decade; Target relaunched on its own platform on August 23, 2011.

Some Target stores near major airports have what painted on their roofs?

Target paints its bullseye logo on the roofs of stores under airport flight paths so passengers spot it from the air; the Inglewood store near LAX has one formed from solar panels.

What was Target's first in-house charge product, launched in 1995, called?

The Target Guest Card, launched in 1995, was the chain's own store credit card; a Target Visa followed in 2001 for shoppers who preferred a bank card.

Which retailer offered to buy Target's parent company for $6.82 billion in the 1990s and was rebuffed?

J. C. Penney's unsolicited $6.82 billion bid in 1996 was rejected as too low by Dayton-Hudson, then the fourth-largest US retailer to Penney's fifth.

Target's parent gained the 'Hudson' half of its 1969 name by merging with a department store from which city?

Detroit's J. L. Hudson Company, whose downtown flagship was one of the world's largest department stores, merged with the Dayton Company in 1969 to form the Dayton-Hudson Corporation.

Target's smaller urban formats launched in 2012 were originally branded as what?

CityTarget, launched in 2012 in downtown Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle, and the even smaller TargetExpress stores were all renamed simply 'Target' in 2015.

Target's mascot debuted in a commercial in which year?

Target's dog mascot first appeared in 1999 in the 'Sign of the Times' television campaign; several look-alike dogs have shared the role since.

In which year did Target's Chip Ganassi sponsorship win the Indianapolis 500, after four straight CART titles?

Dario Franchitti later won the 2010 Indy 500 in the Target car; the NASCAR deal ended in 2017.

Which fast-food chain's counters, alongside the coffee bar, are common in Target's in-store snack areas?

Pizza Hut Express counters sit beside the coffee bar in the Target Café snack area, where the chain sells personal pan pizzas and breadsticks to shoppers.

Target's tradition of giving a fixed share of pre-tax profits to charity dates from which year?

Target's founding family began giving a set share of pre-tax profits to charity in 1946; the company kept the tradition, which later inspired a club of like-minded corporate donors.

Target House provides free long-term housing for families of patients at which hospital?

Target House, in Memphis, Tennessee, gives families of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital patients free fully furnished apartments while their children undergo lengthy treatment.

When Target expanded north of the border in 2013, which chain's leases did it take over?

Target paid Hudson's Bay Company about C$1.8 billion in 2011 for the leases of up to 220 Zellers stores, then struggled with empty shelves and high prices.

In what year did Target Stores first turn a profit, allowing a fifth store to open in Bloomington?

Target Stores posted its first profit in 1965 on sales of about $39 million; the gain funded a fifth store in Bloomington, and by 1975 the chain was Dayton-Hudson's biggest earner.

Target's first mascot dog, an AKC champion, was known by what nickname?

Smudgie was the nickname of AKC champion Kingsmere Moondoggie, the original Target mascot dog, whose role later passed to a series of look-alike successors.

In 2021, Target began opening 'mini shops' for which tech company inside its stores?

Apple shops with dedicated Target staff trained by Apple opened inside 17 Target stores in February 2021, the first of a planned roll-out to more locations.

Which pop star cancelled an exclusive album edition with Target in 2011 over a political donation?

Lady Gaga dropped the Target-exclusive edition of Born This Way in March 2011 after Target's 2010 donation to a group backing a candidate who opposed same-sex marriage.

Which Target food and drink brand replaced Archer Farms and Simply Balanced?

Good & Gather launched in September 2019 as Target's flagship own-brand food label, replacing Archer Farms and Simply Balanced with a range spanning dairy, produce, snacks and frozen food.

By 2020 Target Center had become the NBA's second-oldest arena, after which venue?

Madison Square Garden, the Knicks' home since 1968, was the only NBA arena older than Target Center once the Pistons, Bucks and Warriors left their old buildings between 2017 and 2019.

Target's headquarters stands on which downtown Minneapolis street?

Target Plaza South and North rise at 1000 Nicollet Mall, the pedestrian-and-transit street through the heart of downtown; the original department store stood a few blocks away on the same street.

Target's parent opened America's first fully enclosed, climate-controlled shopping mall in 1956 under what name?

Southdale Center, built by Target's parent company in Edina, Minnesota, and designed by Austrian-born architect Victor Gruen, opened in 1956 as the first fully enclosed, climate-controlled shopping mall in the United States.

Target Canada was headquartered in which Ontario city?

The subsidiary ran its short-lived 133-store chain from a head office in Mississauga, Ontario, west of Toronto, from the January 2011 expansion announcement until the 2015 liquidation.

Who co-founded the first Target store in 1962 alongside Douglas Dayton?

John Geisse, a department-store merchandising executive, devised the upscale-discount concept and launched the first store with Douglas Dayton as president; Geisse later founded the Venture Stores chain.

What is the name of the loyalty programme Target launched nationwide in 2019?

Target Circle launched nationwide in October 2019 after a pilot, absorbing the Cartwheel savings app and giving members 1% back on purchases plus personalised offers.

Who succeeded Brian Cornell as Target's chief executive on February 1, 2026?

Michael Fiddelke, Target's chief operating officer and a former chief financial officer who joined the company in 2003, took over from Cornell, who became executive chair.