We Visited 3 Target Stores to See Why the Retailer Is Struggling

On paper, Target is struggling. Shopping in some of its stores offers clues as to why.

The retailer has reported lackluster financial performance over the past two years. Its sales have struggled to grow while competitors like Walmart and Costco have posted strong gains.

The Minneapolis-based retailer’s growth soared during the pandemic years, but it has since reported declining comparable sales in five of the last eight quarters.

Visits are also down this year. Target said foot traffic fell 2.4% year over year during its first quarter. Data from the foot traffic analytics firm Placer.ai suggests the decline at Target has been starker than at its rivals. In each of the past four months, Target’s traffic was down from the year before, while Walmart’s was mixed, and Costco notched gains, according to the data.

The general state of the stores has been a key issue for analysts and many customers on social media. By some accounts, Target is no longer as fun to wander around in while loading up a cart.

“The traditional mantra of the Target trip is that you go in for toothpaste and you come out with many, many other things,” said Global Data retail analyst Neil Saunders. “That necessitates a good, strongly executed store environment, so when that falls short, it reduces basket sizes, it reduces conversion, and it pushes down value-for-money perceptions as well.”

In recent weeks, BI reporters visited three locations across the US multiple times to better understand the state of its stores: Madison, Wisconsin, Ventura, California, and Washington, DC.

The shopping experience varied between the locations. One seemed well-stocked and fairly busy with customers. Another showed some signs of low foot traffic. And a third — a newer format for Target — seemed to be understaffed and had lots of locked-up products.

Here’s what we saw:

Target does get some stores mostly right

The Target on Madison’s Near West Side is arguably a crown jewel of the retailer’s nearly 2,000 US stores. The location serves families from surrounding neighborhoods and students from the nearby University of Wisconsin — two audiences that are Target’s bread and butter.

If the company is going to get any store right, this should be one of them.

On recent visits, BI saw that the parking lot was active and not overly full.

The store appeared to be reasonably well-staffed. A group of employees gathered one morning near the entrance for a quick meeting and talked about setting up seasonal displays. During an afternoon visit, three of the eight staffed checkout lanes were open, as were all the kiosks in a self-service area.

Some of the shelves in the low-priced Bullseye’s Playground area were empty, though it wasn’t clear whether this was due to seasonal changes in the selection or because items were sold out.

Clothing displays were tidy and well-organized. The floors of the shoe aisles were clear of clutter from shoppers trying on different sizes.

Several small groups of shoppers were in the store, and none seemed to be in any particular rush. It seemed like the kind of shopping experience Target’s execs have said they hope will bring the “Tarzhay” effect to life.

CEO Brian Cornell said on a recent earnings call that the company wants to “deliver everyday discovery and delight” and prioritize “ease, convenience, and a personal touch with every interaction.”

Other locations appear to be getting few in-person shoppers

On three separate visits to a Target in Ventura, California, about 65 miles north of Los Angeles, BI noticed few other shoppers in the aisles.

The parking lot had room to spare. At midday, there were plenty of available spaces, compared with past personal visits when it was more challenging to find a place to park.

The shelves, too, hinted at low foot traffic. Many of the store’s displays were full and orderly, with no evidence of being picked through the way they typically are during busy shopping seasons.

The store’s grabby $1/$3/$5 display near the entrance, which often features a wide and unkempt array of inexpensive seasonal tchotchkes like candles and accessories, was noticeably well-organized. The clothing section was remarkably easy to sift through compared to prior personal visits, when it wouldn’t be unusual to find several T-shirts hanging off of hangers or discarded items on the floor. Summer items, located toward the back of the store, appeared untouched.

Of course, well-stocked shelves and tidy aisles are great from a shopper’s perspective and could indicate a level of care from the workers.

Some furniture displays were empty, but that may have been due to tariff-related supply chain snarls. The SKUs, or stock-keeping codes, left behind suggested the shelves had recently contained products imported from Vietnam, China, and Cambodia, which are each facing tariff increases.

Another unusual clue that the store might be experiencing low traffic was the lack of a line to check out at the two available staffed lanes or the four self-checkout lanes.

A Target spokesperson told BI the company’s foot traffic estimates don’t account for the chain’s recent growth in digital sales, including delivery and pick-up orders. Drive-up orders — brought directly to a customer’s car so they don’t have to set foot in the store — now make up almost half of Target’s digital sales, CEO Cornell said on the company’s earnings call in May.

Indeed, staffing levels appeared disproportionately high for the limited number of shoppers. Multiple employees were spotted on the floor during each visit, either refilling shelves, tending to displays, or engaged in casual conversation near the stock room.

Saunders, the analyst, said that even though plenty of employees might be out on the sales floor, they’re often occupied with fulfilling e-commerce orders under tight deadlines.

“They are very, very thinly stretched,” Saunders said.

A visit to a small-format Target store revealed some challenges facing the chain

One Target store in Washington, DC shows some of the biggest challenges the chain faces.

The location is one of the small-format stores that Target started opening over the past decade. While typical suburban Targets are around 125,000 square feet, this store is about 23,000. The smaller size has allowed Target to open stores in dense cities and other areas where opening a typical big-box isn’t practical, Target executives have said. Cleveland Park, the DC neighborhood home to the store BI visited, is one such dense place.

On recent visits, though, BI saw issues with shopping at the mini-Target.

A wide range of items, from men’s socks to deodorant to laundry detergent, were locked behind glass doors. Customers could press a call button for help, though when BI tried it during multiple visits, a Target employee only showed up about half the time.

The locked cases are likely an attempt to reduce theft, an issue that Target and other retailers have struggled with in the past. Yet other stores in the area, including a Giant supermarket, a local health food store, and a CVS, offered many of the same products without having to get an employee to unlock a case.

At times, staffing also appeared to be an issue.

While the DC Target had both self-checkout kiosks and person-powered checkouts, there were times when BI visited when no one was immediately at the register to ring customers up or assist with a pick-up order. During one visit, BI saw a customer wandering around as she looked for an employee who could help her buy a gift card — something that Target’s self-checkout stations can’t sell.

A Target spokesperson said that the retailer has spent the last year adding more checkout stations staffed by people. At the same time, the company has added Express self-checkout lanes for customers with 10 items or fewer.

When BI visited this store, most products were in stock. A few areas, such as a locked case for Apple accessories and the kitchen appliance department, had bare shelves.

While a normal Target would be more likely to have a wider array of alternative products for shoppers in such a situation, in a small store with a narrow product selection, out-of-stocks increase the chance that shoppers will leave without buying anything.

It’s a mixed bag for Target

The three visits suggest that Target is not in any sort of crisis like the ones that have wiped out many other retail brands in recent years. The stores we visited were clean, the merchandise was usually presentable, the staff were mostly available, and the shopping experience was generally pleasant.

At the same time, the assortment is not especially exciting, and the prices aren’t meaningfully better than those at a competitor.

That might not be enough to win over shoppers in 2025, who are increasingly picky about finding good deals or at least a reason to splurge.

“One of the issues with Target is it really has lost its focus, as a lot of other retailers have increased and improved their focus,” Saunders said.

Target recently created an Enterprise Acceleration Office to “deliver faster progress” on its growth plans, said a May announcement that Target’s spokesperson referred BI to. The effort will include using technology to better manage Target’s inventory, for example, CFO Michael Fiddelke said on last month’s earnings call.

Meanwhile, other major retailers are investing heavily in delivering the most convenience (think: Walmart), the best prices (Costco), the biggest surprises (T.J. Maxx), or a combination of those things (Amazon).

Those are areas Target continues to struggle in as it looks to grow its revenue and store visits.

“It’s not an existential crisis for Target,” Saunders said. “But they need to get out of this nosedive and at least get the plane on a level heading.”