Target Corporation—which has partnered with many designers over the years—on Monday announced an exclusive partnership with Sam & Libby, a footwear brand that’s owned by St. Louis-based Brown Shoe Company.
 
The exclusive collection, Sam & Libby for Target, will debut on May 5. It features 20 styles of contemporary women’s footwear that includes everything from sandals and flats to patterned wedges and pumps. Items within the line start at $24.99.
 
Target said its partnership with Sam & Libby will be “ongoing.”
 
The footwear in the collection will be available in stores and on Target’s website, and the website will offer an expanded assortment of colors.
 
“Sam and Libby are pioneers in the footwear industry, and this partnership delivers the designer fashion and affordable prices our guests love finding at Target,” Trish Adams, Target’s senior vice president of apparel and accessories, said in a statement. “The attention to detail reflected in each style is incredible, and we look forward to adding Sam & Libby for Target to our roster of exclusive brands.”
 
Target has partnered with designers for more than a decade, starting with Michael Graves in 1999—and such partnerships have helped it earn its “cheap chic” reputation. Many rivals have since followed suit and launched their own exclusive designer lines.
 
Target and luxury retailer Neiman Marcus have partnered on a limited holiday collection that will debut Saturday. It features more than 50 products from 24 designers.
 
Although Target is already looking ahead to next year with its Sam & Libby partnership, the upcoming holidays represent a critical time for it and other retailers. A holiday-themed television spot that Target recently aired was lauded by Adweek as one of the “top 10 commercials of the week” for the November 16-23 period. The commercial featured a giant-sized version of Bullseye, Target’s bull terrier mascot, stomping through a town that’s decked out for the holidays and playing Santa with a big bag of gifts.
 
To see the Target commercial, click here. (To watch a commercial for Richfield-based Best Buy Company, Inc., which also made the Adweek list, click here.)
 
Target and other retailers reportedly fared well over Thanksgiving weekend, which marks the start to the holiday shopping season. The average holiday shopper spent $423 last weekend, up from $398 last year—and total spending climbed about 13 percent to an estimated $59.1 billion, according to research from the National Retail Federation. Target reported significant traffic at stores and on its website.
 
Target is Minnesota’s second-largest public company based on revenue, which totaled $68.5 billion in its fiscal year that ended in January. It operates 1,782 stores across the United States and plans to open its first stores in Canada in 2013.