Walmart Vs Target

The history of Wal-Mart can be traced back to the 1940s when Sam Walton began his career in retailing. He began working at a JC Penney store in Des Moines, Iowa on June 3, 1940, making a salary of $75 a month. During his employment there, Sam was able to meet James Cash Penney, the department store's founder, during a visit to the store. He remained at JC Penney for eighteen months.

In September 1945, Walton acquired, from George Scharlott, the franchise and lease on a Ben Franklin in Newport, Arkansas. The variety store was part of a chain operated by the Butler Brothers, a regional retailer. After three years, Walton increased annual sales from $80,000 to $225,000 by 1948. However, the landlord, P.K. Holmes, declined to renew the lease on favorable terms and Walton was forced to relocate before the end of 1950. On May 9, 1950, Walton purchased a store from Luther E. Harrison in Bentonville, Arkansas, and opened Walton's 5 & 10.

As a typical businessman, Walton was always looking for better deals from his suppliers, and he realized that he could obtain higher sales volume by passing on the savings to his customers, instead of pocketing them. By 1962, he had eleven Walton's stores inspired by the successes of other discount department store chains. Walton opened the first store in his own discount chain in Rogers, Arkansas that year. Responsible for the purchase and maintenance of signage, Walton's assistant, Bob Bogle, came up with the name "Wal-Mart" for the new chain. By 1967, the company grew to 24 stores across the state of Arkansas, and had reached $12.6 million in sales, and by 1968, the company opened its first stores outside of Arkansas in Sikeston, Missouri and Claremore, Oklahoma. The chain continued to add locations in small towns and had 78 stores by 1974. An inter-store computer network was created to improve communication and ordering, and over the next three years, sales more than tripled from $167.5 million to $479 million. The number of stores had more than doubled to 153. The chain continued to grow dramatically, with 330 stores in 1980 and $1.2 billion in sales; 1,114 by 1985 ($6.4 billion); and 1,528 by 1990. As of May 31, 2007, there were 1,040 Wal-Mart Discount Stores in the United States.

In 1962, the Dayton Company, using a concept developed by John F. Geisse, entered discount merchandising by opening its first Target discount store in Roseville, Minnesota, a suburb north of Saint Paul. The name "Target" originated from Dayton's publicity director, Stewart K. Widdess, and was intended to prevent consumers from associating the new discount store chain with the department store. The new subsidiary, Target Stores, ended its first year with four units, all in the Minneapolis area. Target Stores lost money in its initial years; however, in 1965 it reported its first gain with sales reaching $39 million, allowing a fifth store to open in Minneapolis. In 1966, Bruce Dayton launched the B. Dalton Bookseller specialty chain, which became the largest hardcover bookseller in the United States. The bookseller chain was named after the founder, but with the y in Dayton replaced with an l. Target Stores expanded outside of Minneapolis by opening two stores in Denver, Colorado, and sales exceeded $60 million. In 1967, the Dayton Corporation was established and it went public with its first offering of common stock, and it opened two more Target stores in Minnesota resulting in a total of nine units.

In 1968, Target changed its bullseye logo to the one currently in use, and expanded into St. Louis, Missouri, with two new units. That year, Target Stores experienced a transition phase: Target's president and co-founder, Douglas J. Dayton, went back to the parent Dayton Corporation and was succeeded by William A. Hodder, and senior vice president and cofounder John Geisse left the company. He was later hired by St. Louis-based May Department Stores, where he founded the Venture Stores chain. Target Stores ended the year with 11 units and $130 million in sales. In 1969, it acquired the Lechmere electronics and appliances chain that operated in New England, and expanded Target Stores into Texas and Oklahoma with six new units and its first distribution center in Fridley, Minnesota. The Dayton Company also merged with the Detroit-based J.L. Hudson company that year, to become the Dayton-Hudson Corporation consisting of Target and five major department store chains: Dayton's, Diamonds of Phoenix, Arizona, Hudson's, John A. Brown of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Lipmans. In 1970, Target Stores added seven new units, including two units in Wisconsin, and the 24-unit chain reached $200 million in sales. The nation's #2 discount chain (behind Wal-Mart) now operates about 1,500 Target and SuperTarget stores in 47 states, as well as an online business called Target.com. Target and its larger grocery-carrying incarnation, SuperTarget, have carved out a niche by offering more upscale, fashion-forward merchandise

Walmart SWOT

Strengths.

Wal-Mart is a powerful retail brand. It has a reputation for value for money, convenience and a wide range of products all in one store. Wal-Mart has grown substantially over recent years, and has experienced global expansion. The company has a core competence involving its use of information technology to support its international logistics system. A focused strategy is in place for human resource management and development. People are key to Wal-Mart's business and it invests time and money in training people, and retaining a developing them.

Weaknesses.

Wal-Mart is the World's largest grocery retailer and control of its empire, despite its IT advantages, could leave it weak in some areas due to the huge span of control. Since Wal-Mart sell products across many sectors (such as clothing, food, or stationary), it may not have the flexibility of some of its more focused competitors. The company is global, but has a presence in relatively few countries Worldwide.

Opportunities.

To take over, merge with, or form strategic alliances with other global retailers, focusing on specific markets such as Europe. The stores are currently only trade in a relatively small number of countries. Therefore there are tremendous opportunities for future business in expanding consumer markets, such as China and India.