Target Corp.'s CEO said the retailer's top priorities are to expand grocery sections in its stores and add smaller-footprint locations.
During a quarterly conference call with analysts on May 19, Gregg Steinhafel, Target's chairman, president and CEO, said the company is on track to remodel more than 240 stores this year with the expanded grocery, or P Fresh, areas. "By the end of the third quarter, we expect to have more than 450 general merchandise locations, with the P Fresh assortment and presentation," he said. Thirteen new stores will open this year.
Meanwhile, Target's sales increased 5.5 percent in the first quarter to $15.2 billion in 2010, from $14.4 billion in 2009, due to a 2.8 percent increase in same-store sales and the contribution from new stores.
The Minneapolis-based retailer's first-quarter profits rose by nearly 30 percent on strong sales of clothing and other discretionary items, with its net earnings of $671 million during the quarter ended May 1, 2010, besting the $522 million posted in the year-ago quarter. Its first-quarter earnings per share (EPS) increased to 90 cents from 69 cents in the comparable year-ago period was the highest EPS from continuing operations in Target's history, excluding holiday-driven fourth-quarter results.
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