Target to Close Four Underperforming Stores

Target to Close Four Underperforming Stores

The retailer, which has announced plans to open 10 new U.S. stores next year, said it will close four existing locations “after careful consideration of the financial performance” of each of them.

Minneapolis-based Target Corporation, which is gearing up to open 125 stores in Canada and continues to add locations in the United States, said Wednesday that it is shuttering four underperforming U.S. stores.

The stores that will be closed are located in Cane Ridge, Tennessee; Manassas, Virginia; Kissimmee, Florida; and Colorado Springs, Colorado. Target said that it decided to close the stores “after careful consideration of the financial performance” of each location. The stores will close on February 2, and the company said that eligible store employees will be given the option to transfer to nearby Target locations.

Despite the recently announced store closures, Target has been increasing its overall store count. The company currently has 1,781 stores—up from 1,772 as of late July, at the end of its second quarter. That’s compared to 1,762 stores as of July 30, 2011.

Target has announced plans to open 10 new U.S. stores in 2013; that figure includes its smaller CityTarget-format that will open in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Portland, Oregon. Among the other locations where Target will open new stores next year are Chicago; Staten Island, New York; and East Peoria, Illinois.

Target is currently gearing up for its first international expansion, and it plans to open its first Canada stores early next year. The retailer in July revealed the locations of the first 125 stores it plans to open in the country.

Target recently announced that its same-store sales increased 2.4 percent in October, falling short of Wall Street expectations. The retailer’s total revenue, which includes sales from stores open for less than a year, rose 3 percent to $4.98 million during the month.

In order to attract holiday shoppers, Target recently announced that, for the first time, it will match prices with online competitors this holiday season, including amazon.com, walmart.com, bestbuy.com, toysrus.com, and babiesrus.com.

Target is Minnesota’s second-largest public company based on revenue, which totaled $68.5 billion in its fiscal year that ended in January.