Target To Add 17 Dedicated In-Store Apple Shops

Target is expanding its 15-year partnership with Apple to open 17 in-store shops that will be dedicated solely to its products, and will double the amount of space now being used. Target is also launching a digital destination for Apple merchandise.

“Apple products are popular with Target’s guests, and this new, dedicated shopping experience offers enhanced service and expanded offerings, building on our strength as a go-to destination for electronics,” Christina Hennington, executive vice president and chief growth officer at Target, said in a press release on Thursday (Feb. 25). 

The new shopping experience will launch online first, and will then start rolling out to 17 locations in 10 states — California, Texas, Oklahoma, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Delaware and New York. The newly designed mini-stores will have improved displays and better lighting for Apple products. In addition, Target will have tech consultants trained by Apple on hand to assist shoppers.

“It represents a deepening of the in-store experience, similar to the play made in beauty via a partnership with Ulta,” Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, told The Wall Street Journal. “Over recent years, Target has spent a lot of capital on making its stores welcoming and engaging. It is now looking for categories where it can generate higher sales by being even more impactful and interesting, and by providing better customer service.”

Target has strategic partnerships with Disney, Ulta Beauty and Levi Strauss & Co. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Target has 1,900 stores in addition to its eCommerce. The retailer said the company has been donating 5 percent of all profits to local neighborhoods, a tradition started in 1946.

Apple’s launch of the 5G iPhone 12 models has seen the tech giant regain its foothold as the top-selling smartphone. Overall, sales of smartphones across the globe declined 5.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020 and 12.5 percent for the year.

Target came out on top in holiday shopping sales, beating combined brick-and-mortar and eCommerce numbers from stores like Nordstrom, Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters.