Target Project Final Write Up: Team 6

Executive summary

The problem our team had to solve was how to create a space in the already developed
community of Northern Colorado for a profitable small-scale Target. This small-scale store
needed to fit the needs of our community through community engagement, well-thought out
merchandise options, beneficial delivery options, diverse products that fit the demographic of the
area, and a company purpose that helps families discover the joy of everyday life. Our team
decided that a smaller scale Target store was needed in Fort Collins, Colorado. We realized early
on that it needed to be in walking distance to Colorado State University. Our location is on
University and Shields, west of campus. Our vision was to have a store that is easily accessible
for the students on campus who more than likely do not have access to cars. We are also a quick
stop for small families and local residents who are on the go. We are close to campus for those
who want to walk or bike, our location is also convenient for our guests who ride the bus, and we
will have a parking lot for the guests who have cars. We want our customers to discover the joy
in everyday life by walking into our store for a quick, convenient, sustainable,
community-oriented experience all while getting the products they need.

We did multiple customer interviews to decide what sort of products our guests need and
what they have a hard time finding at the stores near campus. Our store focuses mostly on
home-goods, self-care items, non-perishable/to-go foods, seasonal apparel, and school supplies,
along with smaller categories of technology, recreation, and CSU apparel. Our prices are going
to focus on the “good and better” amounts for our guests who are mostly looking for lower-cost
items. We want our products to be affordable but also worthwhile for them to spend their money
on since our guests will probably not have much disposable income.

Our store will stand out because of the way we want to integrate in the Fort Collins
community. It was extremely important for our store to reflect the sustainable mindset that is so
important to the Fort Collins residents. We will achieve sustainability by using recycled paper
bags and having our 2030 zero waste goals. We will also stand out by supporting the Northern
Colorado Prospers Initiative and working with local artists and vendors. Our original vision was
to create a store that feels like home for our guests whether they are freshmen at CSU, who are
far away from home, or they are local Fort Collins residents who want to see Fort Collins culture
reflected in their local Target.

Community Engagement

One thing our team was cognizant of in the beginning of this project was how we can
make our store community-oriented. Our first thought was the importance of sustainability in
Fort Collins. Something that we figured out through multiple customer interviews was that
people like using paper bags. With further research we realized that paper bags were the way to
go, as long as they were durable. We also want to implement a “Reuse & Save” program where
if the guest brings a reusable bag, they will get either five cents off their bill or five cents
donated. This program will not only make guests feel like they are making a difference, but it is
another way to reinforce the sustainable mindset of our Target.

We faced challenges through the development of how we wanted to engage with the
community because many of our ideas were already implemented in the existing Target stores. In
order to overcome this issue, we laid out what Target’s big impacts are already, and we decided
on some bigger impacts for our Target to implement. Target’s big impacts that are already in
motion, including professional development and volunteer hours for employees, along with
sponsoring local events like races, school fundraisers, and stocking local brands. Our team wants
to take that mindset further with bigger impacts, such as supporting the Northern Colorado
Prospers Initiative and having 2030 zero waste goals. The Northern Colorado Prospers Initiative
will impact the Fort Collins community by aligning, attracting, and retaining good talent, and
expanding existing business. Along with the 2030 zero waste goals, which promote public
transportation, renewable energies, and landfill diversion. These goals are not only beneficial for
our community, but they are also another way for our guests to see how seriously we take
sustainability and making a difference.

Community engagement was not only about embracing the sustainable mindset of Fort
Collins residents, but also embracing the Fort Collins culture. Residents take pride in their city,
so we want our Target to take that pride and use it to make guests feel like our Target is tailored
to their city. To do this we decided that we wanted to work with local artists and local vendors.
Art murals around Fort Collins make it feel special, so we want local artists to come in and add
art murals to reflect that piece of the city’s culture. We want to implement different brands of
local FDA approved products to our merchandise to make our store even more
community-oriented. We want to put products on the shelves of our store that guests will know
are local, so they even more at home.

Localization of merchandising:
When looking into the products we wanted to supply, we really focused in on looking at
who would be coming to our store and what our customers needs are. With that being said, we
developed three main customer archetypes, that being the students, the car-less, and the families.
These archetypes were based on the demographics of our location choice, Elizabeth and Shields.
We knew that pretty much all three of our archetypes really wanted a quick, easy stop to pick up
everyday essentials. We also knew that the students and car-less are in need of small items that
are easy to transport. The families are in need products they can get in a pinch. On top of looking
into our customers needs, we also knew we needed to take into account the diversity of our
customers and how we can accommodate to everyone. We were able to gather information
through looking at databases from CSU and Fort Collins that showed the area demographics, as
well as using personal experiences from students themselves. Once we gathered all of the
information and details we needed to create a product base, we were now able to select and
narrow in what exactly our small format store will carry.
As a whole, our store will have a little bit of everything, making it the perfect pit stop for
the customers in a time crunch. However, looking at the products in more detail, we really
narrowed in on focusing on three main areas. Home goods, self care (toiletries), and
non-perishables/to go items. These three product categories really focus on what our customers
are wanting and needing. Home goods will vary from small things like command strips, and
kitchen essentials, to larger items like dorm and apartment furniture, bedding, and decor items.
These items will be accessible to students and residents in the area that are needing home goods
in a timely manner. Self care items are a necessity for every type of customer, and is a current
issue for people in the area because getting these items is a current hassle. Having these items in
our store is crucial to our customers and will help eliminate the need to drive 15 minutes to get
shampoo. We also really wanted to incorporate self care items that support anyone and everyone.
This means having all skin tone shades for makeup, hair products that work for every hair type,
and using signage in these departments to showcase that. The non-perishables will be individual
non bulk items, as well as snacks and togo meals for those on the run. Overall, we just really
want our store to be a place for our guests to feel apart of, get the basic day to day items, while
also having items that cater to every type of target customer, even if its a fast stop.

Delivery Options

Another important topic that was brought up repeatedly during customer interviews was
online shopping, and how large it has become. Our group talked a lot about having an area in our
Target designated to online pick-up. We think it is an efficient way for our small-scale store to
carry the things that customers would look for at like a Super-Target. An online pick-up option
will better fit the needs of our customers, because it is impossible to sell everything every
customer needs, we think this is a way to cope with that issue.

We also realized that Target is starting a drive-up service at many of their already established
locations, so we decided that a drive-up service would be beneficial for our guests. The drive-up
service will help our customers get their products in a timely manner, and since most people are
busy, we believe this service will be extremely helpful.

Another idea that we talked about was a delivery service. We are aware of companies like
amazon, who have 2-day shipping, or services like GrubHub that bring customers food with
quick delivery. We wanted to have some sort of quick delivery like this and even played with the
ideas of hiring bike-deliverers, but after much deliberation, pushed the idea back for a later time
and decided to focus on other aspects of our Target.

Diversity and Inclusion

As many know, Fort Collins has been rapidly expanding these past years all the way from
building developments to the population itself. Lots of the population comes from students and
faculty who either attend or work at Colorado State University. The university attracts students
from all over the state, country and even from across the world for the months of August to May,
and maybe even longer for those who decide to stay for the summer. Because of this, Fort
Collins is a very diverse community and as a new Target store our job is to welcome and provide
for those of different races, beliefs, cultures, genders etc.
From the beginning our team knew that diversity and inclusion was something important
that our Target needed to capture in on. From one of our own team members personal
experience, she shared that the target closests to campus (off of College) was very limited with
its beauty/self care supplies for women of color. This forces her to drive to the Super Target
location off of Harmony to get simple hair and beauty products that she needs everyday. We also
knew we wanted to include signage that represents Fort Collins diverse community, as well as
having other small items like food, for the international students that CSU has. After discussing
what our goals are for our small format store, we developed and mixed them in with our solution,
to make sure they were met.
One of the ways diversity and inclusion was incorporated into our main solution was
simply through just having a variety of products as explained in the section above. This way,
customers know that Target cares about their needs and wants them to feel apart of the
community, it also helps relieve some of their pains. These pains include driving further for
specific products, having to order items online, and allows customers to shop at one store
eliminating multiple trips. We also finalized and discussed that we would use signage within the
whole store that reflects specifically the Fort Collins demographics. This signage would be
reflective of the community throughout the whole store, not just in certain departments. We also
believe its critical that our store staffs employees that represent the diversity within Fort Collins.
This not only physically shows diversity and inclusion in our store, but also creates a sense of
community for our workers and customers. Having a diverse staff will help Target feel like home
to all, and will help draw in members of the Fort Collins community, making it a safe and
inclusive environment for all.
Company Purpose
 When deciding what we as a team wanted our company purpose to be, we took into
account every aspect of this project, to insure that we have a purpose that supports all parts of
our Target community. Through lots of discussions and going back and forth we were able to
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solidify our purpose to ​“creating a positive impact and embracing the Fort Collins culture.” W
finalized on this purpose because it encompasses our overall goal we want to achieve, as well as
what we want to offer our customers. For us this means that we will create a positive impact
within the Fort Collins area by filling a market gap for essentials, enforce the use of durable and
reusable paper bags, and use a “reuse and save program.” The paper bags we will be using will
be revamped by creating braided handles so the bags are stronger. The reuse and save program
means that if you bring in your own shopping bag, you are given a five cent token. These tokens
can either be saved to take money off your bill, or be donated to the charity we would currently
be supporting. All of these methods we plan on having will create a program within our target
that makes our customers feel like they are giving back and doing “more.” Giving back to your
community creates a sense of joy and ties in with Targets overall statement. Our other purpose,
embracing the Fort Collins culture would be implemented through us stocking local brands and
vendors, and having local artists create murals inside and outside of our store. By having items in
our store that come from local businesses we show as a store that we care for and support the
people and companies of Fort Collins. The art we plan on having helps our store fit in with the
existing appearance of buildings throughout Fort Collins. We want to make sure that our Target
appearance reflects a sense of home to the public. Target does a great job already of making their
stores a place of joy and togetherness for their workers, and customers. Our job for a new small
format store is to display that within ours, while also revamping that already great experience.