.svg){kind=logo} Logo used since 11 July 2014 | |
 Target store located inside City Centre Plaza inRockhampton, Queensland | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1926; 100 years ago (1926) (as Lindsay's) |
| Founder | George Lindsay Alex McKenzie |
| Headquarters | , |
Number of locations | 121 (2026) |
Key people | Ian Bailey (Managing Director)[1] |
| Revenue |  A$2.68 billion (2020)[2] |
Number of employees | 10,000 (2023) |
| Parent | Wesfarmers |
| Website | target |
Target Australia Pty Ltd (formerlyLindsay's andLindsay's Target, formerly stylised asTarget. and doing business asTarget andTarget Australia) is adepartment store chain owned by Australian retail conglomerateWesfarmers. Target stocks clothing, cosmetics, homewares, electronics, books, and toys selling both in-store and online.[3] The company's head office is located in theMelbourne suburb ofWilliams Landing which the company moved to in 2018.[4] Despite the identical logo, name and similar type of outlets, Target Australia have never had a direct relation or affiliation to the American retailerTarget Corporation.[5]
In 1926, George Lindsay and Alex McKenzie opened their first store inGeelong selling dress fabrics,bedding and furnishings.[6] Lindsay began his retail empire five years earlier, running a store inOuyen, Victoria, but moved to Geelong to increase the opportunity for growth.[7] The company progressively established stores throughoutVictoria, running with a policy of selling quality goods at half the normal rate of profit.[7]
In 1968,Myer Emporium purchased the chain of 16 stores and renamed the company Lindsay's Target. They moved into the South Australian market with the first "Target" store opening inNewton, South Australia in October 1970[6] with an aim to expand the business.[8] The newdiscount department store quickly established itself throughout Australia, and within three years had stores in Victoria,South Australia,Queensland andNew South Wales.[7] In March 1973, "Lindsay's" was dropped from the company name and the business was renamed Target Australia. The mainly Victorian-based "Lindsay's" stores, with the positioning of "Sell it for Less", were rolled into the "Target" discount department store group, now carrying over its leading position of quality soft goods to the larger Target discount department store format, while maintaining its base in Geelong.[6]
By 1982, Myer was operating 27 stores under the Target brand, but sold 22 of them, with 14 going toGJ Coles & Coy Ltd.[9]
In August 1985, Myer Emporium Ltd and GJ Coles & Coy Ltd merged to becomeColes Myer Limited. In 1996, Coles Myer merged the Target and Fosseys brands,[6] and their first speciality store Baby Target was established.[citation needed] Then in 1998, their second speciality store, Target Home opened.[citation needed] Fosseys stores were later renamed Target Country,[6] becoming the third speciality store under the Target name.
In 2001, Target announced its first ever loss, to the sum of $43m.[citation needed] A new senior management team replaced the former, with Target repositioning itself from a store directly competing withKmart andBig W, to a more stylish, up-market, but still value-for-money, alternative to speciality stores.[citation needed] Store fittings and layouts were altered to reflect this change and whole departments such as self-service confectionery and home decorator (paint) were removed from all stores. In 2006, Target appointed Launa Inman as managing director. She was namedTelstra Businesswomen of the Year in 2003, as a result of her achievements as an apparel retail buyer for the company. Her work saw Target's $32 million loss at the end of 2000 turn into a $68 million profit 18 months later.[10]
Prior to its November 2007 takeover of Coles Group,Wesfarmers stated in August 2007 that it would consider converting some Kmart stores to the Target brand.[11]
In May 2009, Target stopped providing free plastic bags for its customers, but in 2013 reversed this decision.[12] In November 2011, Dene Rogers, the former chief executive of North American retailerSears Canada, replaced Inman as Target's managing director.[13] However, by April 2013 Rogers had been replaced by former chief operations director atColes, Stuart Machin.[14]
In February 2016, Wesfarmers restructured Target and Kmart under a single department stores division known as the Kmart Group,[15] headed by Kmart managing director Guy Russo. An accounting scandal that created $21 million in fraudulent profits was reported on 11 April 2016.[16] Although it is not believed CEO Stuart Machin orchestrated or ordered the accounting irregularities, he took the blame for the scandal and departed Target.[17]
In June 2016, at a Wesfarmers annual strategy briefing Guy Russo announced that Target would be exiting toy sales, pet care, and luggage. In the same year Target saw a loss of $195 million. According to Mr Russo, 20% of Target's 305 stores would be closed over a five year period. Target planned to market shift, becoming a "mid-tier" new boutique retailer, competing with the likes of foreignfast fashion giantsH&M,Uniqlo andZara.[18][19][20]
Target announced in April 2016 it would relocate its Geelong head office toMelbourne, resulting in an unspecified number of redundancies.[21] Following the April 2016 announcement, Wesfarmers confirmed in December that Target would relocate toWilliams Landing in late 2018.[22]
In June 2017, Wesfarmers announced that Target and Kmart would be merging some of their back-office operations including procurement. Some Target stores would be converted to Kmart stores while other Target and Target Country stores would be closed.[23][24] As of 2020[update], Target had 284 stores throughout Australia: 191 Target stores, and 93 Target Country stores.
In May 2020, further store closures and consolidations were announced with up to 1,300 employees moving to other Wesfarmers businesses. The large restructuring of Target Australia, is a result of its parent company Wesfarmers, claiming that a changing retail landscape in which consumers are opting for "cheap and cheerful" products, mixed with some high-end purchases. The store closures and conversions were expected to last from early 2020 to early-mid 2021.[25][26] The proposed changes were as follows:
Despite its great brand recognition, Target as a large-format retail offering was potentially cannibalising sales from sister group Kmart and did not offer a great enough point of difference compared toMyer andDavid Jones. On Target Australia's website, they attributed the cause of the closures as "improving the commercial viability of the business and to support the thousands of people we employ... we need to adapt our business — to make it smaller, more focused, less complex and more digitally enabled so we can better serve our customers both in store and online."[28][29]
In early 2022 Target had launched their new rebrand which they called "That's Target".[30] Over the month of February they launched new ads that told a story of daily struggles of life and ended with the catch phrase such as "That's quality. That's Target".[31][32][33]
In July 2023, Wesfarmers announced it would reorganise Target and Kmart internally and run them as one combined business.[34]
There are currently 121 Targetdepartment stores located throughout Australia that stock the full range of Target's products.[35] Target is also pushing their online presence since the major closures. Each state and territory have at least two Target stores:
In 1996, Target introducedBaby Target as a standalone store format specifically for baby products. The concept had limited success and was ultimately closed down soon after 2007/2008 when Baby Target stores have since been phased out to become larger Target stores, and still stock a larger range of baby products. Baby Target stores originally located in a number of locations in Australia includingWerribee,Narre Warren,Northland, Victoria,Newcastle,Campbelltown andGolden Grove.
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Fosseys was established in 1926 atGeorge Street, Sydney by Alfred Bristow Fossey and grew to 148 stores throughout Australia, with an annual turnover of $300 million.[citation needed] As part of the acquisition ofGrace Bros, which had purchasedJB Young's ofQueanbeyan who owned Fosseys,Coles Myer came to own Fosseys. Coles Myer used the Fossey’s brand to unify a range of smaller variety stores trading under a range of other names, including Coles Variety stores, which had been the foundation ofGJ Coles & Coy Ltd.[citation needed]
Coles Myer merged the operations of Fosseys with Target in 1996, redesigning Fosseys stores to focus on family apparel retailing in rural Australia. It also introduced Fosseys branded merchandise with attributes of value, convenience and confidence.[citation needed]
Fosseys stores began converting to Target Country in 1999, along with Fosseys stores being closed when they were in close proximity to a larger Target store. By 2001, all Fosseys stores located close to Target stores were closed; the remaining Fosseys stores, rebranded as Target Country, continue to focus on apparel sales in smaller towns without full-merchandise Target stores. The first Fosseys store to be rebranded as Target Country, was Target CountryWonthaggi (Relocated to a larger space, now Kmart)[36] As of 1 July 2007, employees of Fosseys (Australia) Pty Ltd were transferred to Target Australia Pty Ltd, and Fosseys as alegal entity was dissolved. A store count at June 2008, there were 118 Target Country stores throughout Australia.[citation needed]
From the mid 1990s onwards, there was a rebranding of some Grace Bros stores in regional NSW to Target. This included a large number of stores which had previously been part of theDubbo basedWestern Stores. Locations which converted from Grace Bros to Target and then Target Country includeBathurst,Cowra,West Wyalong,Forbes, andYoung (all closed as of 2021).[citation needed]
Target Country store numbers were growing, and gained popularity in regional and remote communities, as Australians loved having access to the fashions and homewares of Target, which were increasingly popular and on price. Stores were refitted and mimicked the appearance of a larger Target store, along with the replacement of the Fosseys POS to Target “touchscreen” POS.[citation needed] As part of Target's 2020 restructuring Target Country stores have been closed or converted. The last Target Country store, Target CountrySalamander Bay (NSW), closed its doors for the last time on 8 May 2021.[37]
Another format tried by Target was the homewares-themed storeTarget Home, introduced in 1998 but discontinued in 2000s. Target Home stores have since been phased out to become larger Target stores, and still stock a larger range of homewares in a number of locations in Australia includingLakeside Joondalup andWestfield Carousel in Western Australia,Castle Plaza in South Australia,Westfield Southland,Highpoint Shopping Centre (now Kmart) andGreensborough Plaza in Victoria andWestfield Warringah Mall (now Kmart) in New South Wales.[citation needed]
Target Outlet was a format tried by Target in 2013 at the Target inDandenong, Victoria atDandenong Plaza. The format was discontinued around 2014.
Urban by Target was a format tried by Target initially atSouth Yarra, Victoria atThe Jam Factory, after taking over a closedVirgin Megastore. The format was introduced in 2010, with a second location opening in 2011, atFlemington, Victoria at Flemington Village. A third location was also opened in 2011, atPasadena, South Australia, at Pasadena Shopping Centre. The format was smaller than a traditional Target department store and was focused on clothing and home wares. The location at Flemington was closed down, followed by Pasadena, which remained but converted into a traditional Target department store and was eventually converted to South Australia's firstTK Maxx store.[38] South Yarra was renovated with the new logo, in black instead of red for the iconic Target symbol, although this location was closed down permanently.[39]
In March 2007, Target launched a 42-piece winter collection designed byStella McCartney andBritney Spears.[40] A number of metropolitan stores sold out of the range as soon as 10 minutes after opening, and items from the collection soon began appearing for sale oneBay at inflated prices.[citation needed] Another Stella McCartney collection was released in October 2010, to lesser fanfare.[citation needed]
In May 2007, Target announced its next designer range fromGoot to a mixed reaction,[41] and subsequently produced a collaboration with American designerZac Posen in April 2008.[citation needed] In the same month, Australian fashion designer Collette Dinnigan released a range of lingerie labelled the 'Wild Hearts' collection.[42]
In February 2012, Target launched a line of lingerie designed by Americanburlesque dancer and modelDita Von Teese.[citation needed] Throughout 2012, Target also announced designer collaborations for children withCollette Dinnigan[43] and Ksubi[44] andRoberto Cavalli[45] for women. Target Australia and Dannii Minogue partnered on a clothing venture in 2014, called Dannii Minogue Petites.Dannii Minogue: the top selling item that has made her a success - Ragtrader.
In March 2016, Target launched a collection of women's, men's, children's and homewares by French fashion designerJean-Paul Gaultier.[46]
![Target store in Stirling Central, Westminster, Perth, Western Australia. This store closed in June 2019.[47]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aStirling_Central_-_Target.jpg)
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