After being active in all fields of endeavor, it seems, Target (NYSE:TGT) is starting a grocery brand. Products from the new line Good & Gather will hit Target stores beginning Sept. 15.
The retailer said that by the end of 2020, the brand will have more than 2,000 items — everything from organic pizza crusts, milk and eggs, hazelnut and peanut butter spreads, frozen veggies, salad mixes and pastas. Target said it expects Good & Gather will be a multi-billion-dollar brand — and the largest of its private labels
Today, nearly 75% of Target shoppers in stores are adding at least one food item to their baskets, she said, and when they do, their basket sizes are two times larger.
Still, analysts have often criticized Target’s fresh food offerings as lackluster and an afterthought. Shoppers can find national snack brands there, like Frito-Lay chips, Chobani yogurt and Cheerios cereal.
But people don’t often seek out Target as a destination for all of their groceries, as they might at Walmart (NYSE:WMT). Instead, a loaf of bread or a box of granola bars have been add-ons to Target baskets already filled with makeup and cleaning and office supplies.
The potential is there. Walmart gets more than 50% of its business from grocery versus about 20% for Target, experts say. And consumers are increasingly willing to buy private-label products at grocery stores.
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