The Wall Street Journal reported this morning?(paywall) that Target TGT had decided to pull out of Canada, after sinking billions of dollars and two years of effort there.
When I was the Director of Research at YCharts, I did several reports, one an industry report and the other an in-depth “Focus Report” on the firm. These reports use the same methodology IOI uses to analyze companies, so I’ll include these on this post. The Focus Report’s theme is “The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.” Target’s Canadian expansion counts in the “bad” column.
The U.S. economy’s recovery seems to be gathering strength, and all retailers will, to one extent or another, be beneficiaries as consumer spending improves. Still, my research leads me to believe that, despite its strengths, Target has a long way to go to be a “best of breed” retailer.
YCharts Focus Report on Target
YCharts Competitor Snapshot on Target and the Discount Retailers