The great newsweekly The Week asks: Has Target Lost Its Cool? and gives us (as usual) an informative roundup.
The point made about JC Penny is a good one. I’m increasingly drawn to that store, although I also like Target. But Target has lost some of its aura.
When I worked as a staff reporter on the then-Knight Ridder newspaper The Wichita Eagle (which later merged with the evening Beacon once KRN killed the Beacon off) from 1980 – 1982 a major story was Target opening up a store in Wichita. This was a major news and business story with extensive coverage in the Eagle and on local TV. There were stories about it opening, photos, extensive interviews with customers — and for months a nearly filled parking lot.
Much has changed since then and Target is now just one of many stores — which means it needs to distinguish its brand. Which is what The Week’s roundup discusses.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.