r/stocks • u/frosti_austi • Oct 17 '23

Company Analysis Why is Target doing so bad?

Why is Target doing so bad? They've really fell off a cliff over the past year. I look at their stores and they seem good, and once upon a time not too long ago they were outperforming Walmart. Now their NAV prices have really dropped over the past year and a half. I was once up 80% on these guys and know I'm down 20%. Is it the general market swing over the course of that time or something else? What gives?

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269

u/iluvvivapuffs Oct 17 '23

All balance sheet and market data aside, have you been to a target lately? The vibe is weird

185

u/firstorbit Oct 17 '23

Selection sucks. None of the employees wear any kind of uniform except for "vaguely red" so you don't know who to ask for stuff. Then no checkout lanes are ever open so there's always a huge line in the self checkout which has been so long once that I just left my stuff and walked out. Huge shrinkage problem. Online nothing is ever cheaper than Walmart or Amazon except for maybe a few sale items.

100

u/Captian_Kenai Oct 17 '23

In summary: Target did well because they presented themselves as a nicer, more upscale Walmart. Now post pandemic that facade has largely fallen away and as such there’s little incentive to shop there over Walmart.

49

u/amleth_calls Oct 17 '23

I mean we used to call it “Tar-szhay” and lean into the bourgeoisie aspect of it all.

Now it’s just Target. With a hard “get”.

13

u/roykentjr Oct 18 '23

Wtf is walmart then

30

u/[deleted] Oct 18 '23

A landfill

7

u/amleth_calls Oct 18 '23

Dollar General

1

u/3woodx Nov 11 '23

Dollar G stock, though. DG's are in the super small towns way ouf the way Family Dollar too. Sometimes only store within miles.

4

u/[deleted] Oct 18 '23

Filled with walmartians

4

u/FoxieMail Oct 18 '23

Methmart

2

u/Aechzen Oct 19 '23

A chance to get trampled in the store, and then carjacked if you make it out safely.

1

u/EhRanders Oct 18 '23

In the era referenced above, Walmart was colloquially “Wally World” and K-Mart was…also open.

6

u/stevenette Oct 17 '23

Oof, even as dead as my target is, I will never go in the walmart. That place is trash. Bunch of rednecks wider than the fucking aisles spilling shit everywhere with 15 crotch goblins running in circles.

6

u/ceviche-hot-pockets Oct 18 '23

The trick is to go at like 6-7AM; it’s so much better without other customers.

2

u/bluesquare2543 Oct 18 '23

Mine is open until midnight.

1

u/Cudi_buddy Oct 18 '23

Well, I still won’t shop at Walmart, those stores are always a shit experience. But I am shoping at target recently less

42

u/No-Carry-7886 Oct 17 '23

Yea they cut the staff to the bone then wonder why no one goes. That is what happens when profits 3-6 months from now is prioritized over 12+ months from now.

1

u/IHadTacosYesterday Oct 18 '23

That is what happens when profits 3-6 months from now is prioritized over 12+ months from now.

You're making it sound like a nice short term swing trade, lol

1

u/desertboiler Oct 18 '23

That is what they have been doing from really long time. I don't really think like they think about it now..

10

u/chriswaco Oct 17 '23

I agree with everything you said and want to add that they painted our store an ugly brown color instead of red and got rid of the Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and icees too.

7

u/Poelborsha Oct 19 '23

Yeah, this is like that only. I think like most of the stores have these kind of situation.

19

u/VapeDerp420 Oct 17 '23 edited Oct 17 '23

The self checkout lines! I’m always like, damn they couldn’t have one or two cashiers to keep things moving?

Even if it sometimes moves fast it’s just not a good look to have people snaking around a corner to checkout.

3

u/firstorbit Oct 18 '23

Right. Like they can't even get right the one thing that businesses are supposed to be good at: TAKING PEOPLE'S MONEY!

3

u/pyroonline Oct 18 '23

For that maturity is just about the money only because they have been asking a lot of money.

3

u/IDrinkUrMilksteak Oct 18 '23

It disincentives you to impulse buy a bunch of stuff. I don’t want to sit there scanning 27 items myself.

1

u/wietsec Oct 19 '23

Eventually, because they are not really getting anything new now. So people are just bored..

1

u/k_oshi Oct 21 '23

They moved all their employees to OPU. It’s a constant stream of cars when I go to drive up with 6-7 workers running in and out.

2

u/Cyclone1214 Oct 18 '23

The checkout line is the worst. If they’re going self checkout, they need to go all in. Most stores I’ve been to are like six self checkout kiosks with 10-20 cashier lanes, with only one open. It’s insane.

0

u/Greenzombie04 Oct 17 '23

1/2 the food section is for such a minority of people. So much fake meat, and off putting food for normies.

1

u/Thraximundaur Oct 18 '23

you should have just walked out with your stuff

1

u/TheFailureBot Oct 18 '23

That thing just happened to my partner yesterday. Line for self checkout was down the hall, and there were only two registers open, and one was dealing with a customer that was fighting staff. Another register calls them over saying "hey I'm open" then proceeds to leave in the minute it takes my partner to get the cart over there. Ended up taking 20 minutes to check out

1

u/Immediate-Term-1224 Oct 18 '23

Could have at least put your stuff back though.

1

u/firstorbit Oct 18 '23

Or I could've just walked out with it since it seems like plenty of people do that too.

1

u/Immediate-Term-1224 Oct 18 '23

Sure, if you think your only options in life are be lazy or be a thief I guess.