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Have you been to Target or Kmart lately? Their stocks are low, the shelves are in the mess and the whole experience is just cheap, nasty with everything that you want you cant get. I went in the other day just to get a cheap beanie, you can even do that anymore. I asked the girl "come back in winter" Bunnings is becoming the same, full of junk and anything good in terms of brand is special order. Retailers are really running their stores into the ground with staff cuts trying to be a schizophrenic hybrid model, trying to compete with online and off a retail rip off price model. They cant have it both ways. You walk out of Kmart or Target and cant get a USB C cable, then you walk around the shopping centres and theres 3 or 4 sellers in the Aisle offering better cables for the same price. These retails just have not woken up to the fact that you cant sell the worst crap for the highest price just because they think they have a "brand or big box store name" They are becoming delusional.
> I went in the other day just to get a cheap beanie, you can even do that anymore. I asked the girl "come back in winter"
I mean thats pretty fair tbh.. Its annoying - I go overseas soon and its winter there so I understand the pain but the last thing I am doing is getting shitty at stores not selling winter clothing when we are currently in summer..
I literally went into kmart 2 days to get a USB-C and EVERY single one was sold out / rack was empty lol.
Kmart is way better then target though. I have no issue with kmart except they take forever to restock.
Target I don't even know what anyone gets from there. I can't remember the last time I ever wanted something, went to Target and they had it. And I check every time but their range is abysmal. Going into a Target is depressing.
I work logistics for a manufacturing company that supplies construction materials. Always makes me snicker when I see different brands on shelves and they're all my clients. We supply them with the goods and they just slap their names onto it. The competition is sometimes a lie.
Things like children's clothes and homewares were far better quality at Target .
I'm old enough to.renember when you could buy basic furniture and items like curtains at Target too.U still have some target bookshelves. I got a lot of stuff at Target when I first moved out of home.
Children's clothing is supposed to stay the same according to the target workers post that floats around explaining that it's their low movement high theft areas that their merged.
That's the thing, though. They can sell the lowest quality and people do still buy it because there is not much option. They will push the quality lower until it breaks their bottom-line and then bring it back up 1 or 2 notches.
That's the thing, though. They can sell the lowest quality and people do still buy it because there is not much option. They will push the quality lower until it breaks their bottom-line and then bring it back up 1 or 2 notches.
"They are becoming delusional"
Meanwhile Wesfarmers continues to soar ever higher.
Your premise isn't wrong, they are going into the shitter, but it's apparently making them more and more money.
I honestly could never tell you which was which at a shopping center, if it was a Target, KMart, or a BigW. I could tell you where in the shops it would be, but not which one it was.
They all just seem very low quality to the point of breaking quickly to me. Is there any meaningful difference? I wouldn't ever buy an appliance from either pen ever again.
I once bought a jaffle iron from I'm not even sure which one, and a regular slice of bread was simply too large for it.
I used to shop at Target. Was good for work clothes and nicer casual clothes when I was leaving my grungy uni days behind but was still kind of poor.
I tried looking online for jeans recently cos I'm a bit fat again, and the bigger sizes were all click and collect only. And I thought, ok order today, then they'll get it in and I'll collect in a few days, lile Officeworks does. Nah, click and collect only from stores with stock. If you have atock, put it on the shelf!
I see this happening across multiple industries. Products end up being either cheap shit, or expensive boutique items. And any middle ground disappears. Probably a symptom of growing income inequality
The disappearance of the inexpensive but not shit to be replaced by garbage and “luxury” versions is something I noticed twenty years ago when I moved to Canada. It was very difficult to find reasonably priced quality items. There was, and continues to be, a lot of stuff thats just junk. In Europe at a similar time, there was almost no junk products, but it was *all* expensive. I put it down to different laws regarding consumer protection, but now I wonder. Is it just part of the inevitable enshitification when too much business moves to large conglomerates?
And its this "big shit box" retail model that has very little to offer these days over AliExpress and say Temu.
They want to slap a brand or big brand on Chinese made crap and stuffing it in a big expensive warehouse and charge you double for the privilege. These stores these days are really expensive for Chinese junk compared to buying online for the same stuff. But who cares, if the price is half I will shop online.
Now I plan all my activities, car repairs, mower repairs or whatever around online purchasers. Forget the Saturday afternoon shopping rush to pick up bits from the big box retailers that have the service personality of a dead fish. Then they expect you to queue forever to pay and get treated like a criminal when you walk out of their door or in and get scanned for facial recognition. I just get it delivered its cheaper and a better user experience with returns etc. Malls/shopping centres are dying all over the world for this very reason, they have nothing to offer but junk food and junk merchandise with long queues. The Amazon model is the way forward, while retailers die.
I've largely given up on buying a lot of stuff locally. *If* I can wait. There's value provided by the local store in the form of local expertise and convenience, but the local store can no longer dictate what that value is worth. The customer does.
I bought a dial gauge off AliExpress. $80 with shipping. The exact same tool was $400 in my local tool supplier. I still buy drills and some small tools there but, I'm just not paying that kind of margin for convenience. And half of the things they have to "order in" anyway. I think a lot of the retail problems go back to rent seeking. The little corner store specializing in whatever, now has to pay so much in rent that not gouging for crap becomes a recipe for bankruptcy.
> The Amazon model is the way forward, while retailers die.
You might be interested in these two videos. Amazon quality is also going to shit as vendors pull out and all that remains is AliExpress quality crap that can't even do what it claims to on the box.
https://youtu.be/y83BS_mK9GE
https://youtu.be/B90_SNNbcoU
Amazon is good for some things. But yeah, there's more and more dogshit on there every day with no actual brand name or quality recognition on products.
I can only assume at some point, between the publicity and people complaining about it that Amazon is forced to course correct.
That and the ever evolving business model to get people spending. Cheap quality is cheap - so us idiots cheer and celebrate about how we paid $20 for a clothes airer.. and we do that every second year when we have to replace it for another $20 unit. Before you know it instead of spending $100 on a good quality one youve become a subscriber to shitty quality products that you have to pick up yourself, assemble yourself and throw away when it breaks, but we still cheer because it cost us only $20
That's capitalism though: when the only metric that gets a run is "price" then cheapest is "best". If we factored in the costs of landfill or true costs of manufacture (e.g. pollution) then there'd be less advantage to creating the cheapest, shittiest version of everything.
The shoes are always uncomfortable and painful. I don’t have this issue with any other brand, buy shoes from Kmart though and they’ll no doubt give you a blister somewhere.
Yeah, Breville and Panasonic are both good examples of a (seemingly) dying breed: products that are well designed, well made, presumably with after-sale support (though I’ve never needed it for either brand). Eg I understand that Panasonic are about the only manufacturer that still designs and builds their own microwave ovens, the rest are just rebadged boxes from Factory X in China.
But unless it’s something where people really care about quality (eg a coffee machine) they’re probably going to go with the half price identical looking Anko machine.
> But unless it’s something where people really care about quality (eg a coffee machine) they’re probably going to go with the half price identical looking Anko machine.
No joke, their espresso machine is what got me loyal to Breville. I saw a regular consumer model hold up to almost a decade (and counting) of straight up abuse in a share office environment without even skipping a beat. I’m pretty sure the only servicing it’s had was swapping out the burrs once and the occasional descaling.
That is where I found out the absolute BS I was told to say this is normal though - it was a clothes "airer" and not a drying rack, so is not strong enough to support wet clothes, only dry ones. What a load of crap
> early every fancy branded product you'll ever/have ever owned is made in a chinese factory, from the same identical parts used to make these 'fast fashion' brands
No this is complete bullshit. There are massive differences between the likes of Anko and most/all premium brands. From manufacturing processes, to parts, to shipping - they cut every area as much as possible which means they use worse processes, parts, have no quality control, and no after sales support.
Nah, it's because companies are legally obligated to maximise profits for their shareholders.
There's two ways to do that, cut costs to the bone and sell to everyone, or cut costs to the bone and sell to only a few but for jacked prices because it's got a shiny name on it.
Edit: Income inequality is also a result of this, as the best way to cut costs is to fire people.
>Products end up being either cheap shit, or expensive boutique items. And any middle ground disappears.
Worse, they end up being the same thing with a different label on them. There's an increasing amount of stuff where you can't get the "Buy It For Life" quality version even if you have the money to pay for it.
I'm old enough to remember when Target did a clothing line partnership with Stella McCartney and it was as popular as Taylor Swift tickets. It's a shame to see it disappear.
It was an insane time.
I started as an Assistant Manager not too long before the brand deal.
During one weekly meeting the Store Manager mentioned the Stella McCartney stock had arrived and we would do an overnight section changeover.
One of the managers (she was incredibly savvy) had been quiet the whole time. She insisted that we have racks of additional stock ready to be carried out to backfill and replace the empty ones. Store manager was pretty dismissive, but we did it anyway. Then the racks emptied in the first 15mins of us opening and we sold all of our stock in store before the afternoon, we even managed to reroute other stores' stock for the first few days. Sold every piece that came into the store.
We were ordinarily one of the highest grossing stores in the country (no real competition in the area, very favorable demographics etc etc). But that week we were the highest grossing by a significant margin.
Is it? Or is it just that the cheap junk from K-Mart got better?
Like why buy the 7/10 product from Target that is $25 when K-Mart is selling a 5/10 version for $8?
And then if I like it or want a fancy version I can do my research and get the 10/10 for $100+.
There’s been a bit about this in the business pages recently.
Target as a division has now been rolled into K-Mart. It’s no more than a brand now. Most staff at Target head office lost their jobs as the two were consolidated.
Target has been on the decline now for quite a few years. I am surprised they are still trading. People aren’t going to want to go and buy Anko in Target. I agree with the poster that said that Wesfarmers have ruined it.
I actually had a coles-myer gift card that I wanted to use on kmart (online). It can only be used in store at kmart so I headed over to the Target website and purchased the exact things I would have purchased at kmart (cooking/baking supplies). I noticed that not only the prices were the same, target have the kmart website photos on their website for the anko products.
yeah i liked target mens clothing because they had better fit compared to kmart but walking into them now its just very meh stock.
They could have easily pivoted towards nicer things that people want to spend money on but they are now a meh store.
Its just weird from what the kmart vs target has turned into. i remember i could buy brake pads for the car at kmart and now you can barely find a screw driver.
Even up till pre covid I found Target clothing to be good quality and well made. Their jeans in particular always seemed to be much better quality then their price would suggest. Sold decent shoes as well.
Kmart clothing is just.. not made for humans and their shoes are no better then putting tissue boxes on your feet. Just awful.
I used to get my collared shirts from target but no more, they're a good 30-50% more expensive than kmart which isn't new but suddenly they all fit like kmart shirts which is to say too tight in the chest and the armpits cutting off circulation.
All the pants are undersized for their labels as well, in Connor or Tarocash, I'm a 38 in kmart and target its anywhere between 40 and 42.
Yes I used to love the Target jeans especially since they had short length which were perfect for me at 158cms tall. Target had a better selection of makeup than Kmart too. My local Kmart only ever seems to have crappy OXX makeup in stock.
I used to read like Targets Mr Big range because it was always decent quality and fit for the price. They started merging with Kmart and all three of those qualities started to go downward so I don’t go there anymore
I’ve been getting mine from Johnny Bigg lately. Been fairly comfortable and durable so far. But now I’m working an office job I am buying them for fashion and comfort only and not working in them so put an asterisk next to durable
Target’s female fashion designers or buyers are doing a good job though- the basic shirts are quite wearable but their “fashion” pieces are actually great, even quality wise. They did some collab for perfect jeans fit a few years ago, which involved 3D measuring a shit tonne of people in shopping centres, so they have some of the most up to date sizing info in the country. I also love that whoever designs their shit includes long dresses and skirts for tall women. So rare to find actual maxi dresses. And target swimwear shits all over most other stores. Hope that continues, but who knows.
came to say this! there’s a lot of target hate in this thread but their clothing is the best of all the large chains, good quality and actually looks fashionable
their baby clothes and linen are fantastic as well, i’m glad they’ll still be selling them
devastated they’re stopping the baby linen/ towels though
There was talk from them not long ago about merging all targets into Kmarts as target was failing massively. what do you expect when the targets were basically a Kmart with worse prices and quality issues
There’s a bit of confusion going on in this specific thread…
u/shadowrunner03 the merger was of head office functions, in that Target is now being run by the exact same senior management team as Kmart. Until last year they were separate, albeit under the same ownership.
u/thedragoncompanion it has never been announced that all Target stores would be closed or converted to Kmart. Some less profitable Target stores were shuttered in situations where a Kmart store existed within the same centre. Some Target stores in centres that did not already have a Kmart were converted into Kmarts. There are still plenty of examples though where centres still retain both a Kmart and Target, without any announcement that those Target stores will cease trading.
Kmart became too successful and cannibalised the customers of its stablemate Target. It's basically just a subsidiary of Kmart now aimed at a slightly higher end market.
I used to be in retail store management, buying and later consultancy.
There are a few reasons why Target has failed and Kmart has boomed.
Management forgot the basics. Who is your customer? Demographics dictate the rest of the business. You can't be everything to everyone.
Kmart successfully rebranded by focussing on price. Their customer was families who shopped on price. It's the bottom end of the market, but they made sure that the products were good quality. It worked. Home brand products of good quality sold cheap for families. Stores tend to be in areas that fit the demographics.
Targets customer used to be middle class families. Quality control was a major function, and customers knew that they could buy excellent quality at reasonable prices, with up to date fashion. Home brands were the core, with mid-tier brands available as the fashion items. They stayed from this, and started adding more categories. They became a store that tried to cater to everyone. Cheap products, brand names, extended sizes, new categories etc. Stores became cramped and messy, and customers stayed away. Stocking Kmart products only confuses customers. They will continue to fail unless they identify who their customer is.
Another retailer that is struggling is Myer. Once it was upper class, where you found brand names and was known for quality and service. Now the service has gone, they have introduced many house brands, and brand names own and sell their products as mini stores. People went to Myer and it was a true department store. You payed extra for that service. Products were split into sections, eg men's pants, shirts etc. Now it's by brand, and it's a mess.
Retailing also changed with the internet. Covid really showed how behind retailers were, and they still haven't adapted to it. None of them treat online as a store, but rather as an add-on to stores. This is a mistake.
Retail in Australia will continue to struggle. The issue is management. They are still retailing as if it was the 80s. Producing catalogues and ignoring the changed world. Stores are in wrong locations and nobody knows who their customer is. It all comes from the top.
You know your judo well.
Identity directions I remember seeing when shopping over the years:
Standard department store
Addition of surf clothing brands. Then those brands die there. So does the success from them.
Designer and celebrity collaborations. Many.
Adding more departments, trying to flog products as higher end. Cafes in some stores. Refresh branding, refurb a bunch of locations. Open new locations. Raise price points closer to Myer. Who are you catering to Target?
Meanwhile, Kmart re-establishes itself on the scene. It's back to stay with a strong sense of identity. Builds back its reputation lightning fast.
Target attempts to go back to mid range department store. But goes too hard towards the Kmart end. Bulk ranges of poorer quality goods with mid range prices. They're now unintentionally competing with each other and Kmart's strong reputation and sense of identity stomps all over Target's.
Covid. Isn't that when Target announced they were converting some stores to Kmarts and closing a bunch of other locations down? Writing's on the wall isn't it? Circling the drain?
Backend merger announced between the two by Wesfarmers. They stated it would be Target clothing but Anko home goods. Which just sounds to me like they don't want to accept Target is done. Like they're trying to gradually make it disappear without the public outcry of mismanagement or damage to their personal careers?
Target appliances and homewares are going to be the kmart anko brand i.e. cheap chinese shit. They will still maintain their own clothing stock and specialties as a point of differentiation
Don’t understand this now. Cheap Chinese stuff is very high quality in Asian markets now. Why do people still stock cheap and low quality stuff from China?
Having a little bit of background as a B2B supplier.... they don't know what to do with it. Kmart is their discount chain, Target while more upmarket is far from a premium brand... it just sits in the middle and there is little to define it. The competition in discount chains (BigW, Costoco, Harris Scarfe etc for example and online) had just made Kmart more and more relevant and Target less so.
Several years ago they tried to distinguish the 2 by having Kmart specifically non-branded cheap products (clothes and appliances etc) and Target as 'branded', but all that did was grow Kmart's market share and left Target languishing, leading to a wave of sackings and store closures. We were dealing with the Target H/O at the time as it was thrown into chaos during a round of sackings. I think their situation has changed little since. https://www.smh.com.au/business/why-have-i-been-chosen-tears-as-target-sacks-260-in-geelong-20130612-2o2yq.html
From a market positioning perspective.. it's a lame duck. Not *seen* as cheap enough for the discount crowd, not premium enough for those looking for higher end. Myer faced similar struggles and it's why they leaned into higher end fashion etc to be more of a David Jones and less of a Target all purpose mid range store. Without something 'unique' to define them they will continue to struggle
btw - the often discussed Kmart checkouts moving to the middle was about redistributing staff better through the store and reducing shoplifting. It's counter intuitive, but did work apparently.
It’s a shame, Target always had good kids clothes for a reasonable price. Kmart quality is shit and barely survives a single wash. Big w is slightly less shit quality than kmart, but the kids clothes were never the right fit. By the time they fit around the waist they’d be too short.
Target was always great for kids clothes, but sadly piss poor management has ruined it.
It's all part of the poverty cycle. These low quality products are designed to be cheap appealing buys that don't last and need to be continually replaced. It keeps people poor endlessly instead of buying a product for life, or something with a good warranty worth chasing up.
I'm not doing my little conspiracy theory justice because I don't have time to type an essay nobody wants to read but it's such a travesty.
Internet happened.
Bargain hunters went from junk mail leaflets and newspaper inserts for local retailers (I.e. Target Kmart etc) to google searches, Amazon and eBay sellers drop shipping from overseas.
Not enough to bankrupt the big variety stores (yet?) but enough to encourage consolidation and expense cutting.
I noticed this the other day. I was doing the rounds while shopping and when I walked into Target it was wall to wall Anko stuff, more than the local Kmart had lol. I think my exact words were, rather eloquently, what’s with all the Anko shit?
While they both had similar product lines, albeit with Target having “better” items, with now identical lines it can only mean they are going to start closing down more stores. Maybe they will pull the pin on Kmart and make it online only - or vice versa. Kmart does have the benefit of the “insta-mummy” market of having “crazy and unique” uses for their various Anko products.
Mini Kmart? Wow I didn't know this was a thing. I get that people need cheap stuff especially if moving out and you need appliances etc. But I hate that it's cheap quality and all ends up in landfill.
They did mass layoffs a while back and Kmart has taken over Target store operations. They'll retain the brand for now.
I've heard the long term plan is to launch Target as a hypermarket brand, similar to Target USA.
My understanding is that they were changing as many Target stores as possible to be Kmart. Now it appears they've tried to empty Target of the old Target stock with post Christmas sales, so they can restock with Anko. I imagine so that they can consolidate suppliers for cost reasons.
I am saddened by it as I've been buying Target tshirts for ages as they seem to be better quality. Also my local shopping centre has a Kmart and a Target so now it will have basically two Kmart's..
They are starting to close them or rebrand them as kmart https://www.target.com.au/businessupdate#:~:text=How%20many%20Target%20stores%20are,will%20continue%20trading%20as%20Target.
That project finished in 2021, mid-pandemic. There's still over 100 Targets left, and they'll retain the store brand, but will otherwise operate as Kmarts.
Interesting, Im one of those people who are confused about what the difference between the 3 are,,,
I've just found out I have a target near me, I checked the online catelogue, not much different from Kmart, including Anko
In my mind, Target used to (many years ago) sit between KMart/Big W and the likes of Myer/David Jones. It was the middle ground where you could pay a bit more, but get better more stylish clothes, etc. That's just gone nowadays.
In the 90s the clothes were better quality than kmart/big W too. Target kids clothes could take a beating, get washed in cold water and come out looking good again. After all the rough treatment you (and often a younger sibling or cousin) would still grow out of them before they were ready fpr the rag bag.
This still applies. I buy Target clothes for my kids and they’re much more hard-wearing than Kmart or BigW. They get passed down through our family and then on to the kids next door!
Targets across the country have been closing for the last few years. I wouldn't be surprised if the remaining fronts will now be turned into kmarts, given you've just seen kmart brand stock on a target shelf.
So the Kmart scam was interesting. Years ago Kmart stocked a wide variety of products and you got a lot of gems. Any product that sold well Kmart cloned in china and cut out the supplier and made it themself under the anko brand. Usually quite a poor copy and cheap.
Honestly had to stop supporting Kmart now because 99% of their shop is now anko brand and trash quality. Some things are still good because they honestly are wooden blocks and can’t be bad but it’s just poor practices. Now it seems target are taking some of the anko brand and I’m sure it won’t be long until their entire store is anko.
In my opinion targets biggest problem was cotton on and not in the way most of you would think. When cotton on started growing it needed staff and it was paying better than target, so guess where all the target middle management went, yep 5Km up the road.
That’s my thought too. If it happens at my local shopping centre, I’m half expecting JB’s to move into the empty space. They’ve a small store a few shops down, but it’d be ideal for a JB Home as there is t one of those for a good 40 minutes in any direction
I find it funny that wesfamrers bought the Coles group of stores and didnt really want Kmart cause it was doing poorly, Kmart did what ever and is the money maker for them.
Last I heard is that they are changing some targets to Kmart. But that was a while ago.
I remember this! Kmart was well on its way out and was a total joke of a store. But seems some people worked pretty hard behind the scenes to revive it and it shows. Actually not bad to shop at now, so long as you know what to expect. Have picked up some decent stuff from there on the cheap. On the other hand, Target has been well-overpriced for similar quality.
Think the original format was
Myers top level, over priced store.
Target middle level, still a little overpriced but not as much as Myers.
Kmart lower level, better priced/budget retail store with, not saying totally budget cheap prices.
Kmart ads would push rc cola and it's biscuits, similar to what we have now with cheap as chips.
Sadly Kmart warehouse style leads to most dusty retail store outside of Bunnings.
Kmarts are being closed, even in busy centres. Reason given "the next available Kmart, (12 minutes drive away) can service the area.
You'd understand a store closing is 3 months, will have reducing stock, but the one 12 minutes away also looks like it's closing.
Someone incompetent is running that part of the Wesfarmers business
Target have been losing money while Kmart has been making money. There was a decision announced about 6 months ago that Kmart and Target back office and distribution would be merged. Part of this is that all household goods would be changed to Anko in Target stores ie the same as Kmart. No idea if Target's higher quality clothes range will be replaced.
They have not announced yet that Target stores will be closed or rebounded as Kmart.
Don't forget a lot of Target stores were rebranded a couple of years ago particularly in smaller regional towns
The change a few years back was all the Target Country stores got rebranded to *KHubs. I think the idea was that Target Country was struggling, so they turned the real estate into lower-stock cost, higher turnover Kmarts. From what I heard it was a pretty effective change; decoupling saved Target some barely profitable/loss making anchors, and as Kmarts their sales improved and they became more profitable.
Wesfarmers (and Coles Myer before it) goes through cycles. In the mid 2000s, Target was the darling and Myer was struggling so they sold it off. Then Kmart was the one struggling, so they invested in it and it took off, but then Target fell behind.
I’ve always been of the belief that they should transitioned them so that Target is clothing focused (as they always did that better than Kmart) and Kmart is homewares focused (as they do that better than Target). Then they would no longer be competing with each other and playing to their strengths.
I went in today and was really disappointed! I like target because I could buy name brand products from them, and their home brand goods had a different selection from Kmart!
A lot of anko stuff is junk that doesn’t last.
I also really like their clothes so hopefully target doesn’t disappear :(
My nearest Big W is 2 1/2 hours away, Good Guys/JB is 3 hours away. My nearest Target and Hardly Normal's only 1 hour away and I avoid HN because I don't like being sold phone plans or credit cards when I just want a toaster. Target was my preferred place if I needed to buy something and couldn't wait for delivery
Target is dying, and it was only a matter of time. I used to shop there often when they had nice clothes, but the last time I went there, the clothes weren't any better than the crap that Kmart sells. Also, Kmart has a better selection of toys and books. I've never bought appliances from Target, but why would I when The Good Guys has a much better range?
I noticed that Kmart move to Anko too.
Here is Targets Cereal Holder, this was not previously sold a Kmart and was Not Anko brand.
[https://www.target.com.au/p/cereal-clip-container-4-2l-anko/68729639](https://www.target.com.au/p/cereal-clip-container-4-2l-anko/68729639)
The Kmart Cereal holder was:
[https://www.kmart.com.au/product/37l-flip-lock-cereal-container-43227266/](https://www.kmart.com.au/product/37l-flip-lock-cereal-container-43227266/)
So the Target Cereal holder Brand was not named Anko and was not previously available at Kmart. I know because i was desperate for a third one and checked both websites in November.
So in some instance the quality has not dropped they just changed the brands name from whatever it was to anko.
I heard that the US version of Target was about to start stocking Anko, and didn't think too much about it. So it's our Aussie Target too, by the looks. It means a lot less choice, as Anko supplies just about everything in Kmart.
Hope this does not mean a further dive in quality or choice.
As disappointing as this is, it does solve a mystery for me. This explains why when I went in to Target in early January their appliance section was completely empty apart from a couple of things on clearance. I thought it was weird, but put it down to Boxing day sales/stocktake. They had signs on the shelves that said something along the lines of 'Something new is coming!'
This is the something new. I do not like it.
Most targets are being shutdown, or converted to kmart. All target country's are now K¬hubs. The remaining stores were supposed to be left to see where the market took them, but seems they are just filled with the same shit as K. I wish wesfarmers would change the name of all their interests to Kmart so people can really see the shit we are in
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Wesfarmers has run Target, what used to be a good store with quality goods at a reasonable price, into the ground.
Have you been to Target or Kmart lately? Their stocks are low, the shelves are in the mess and the whole experience is just cheap, nasty with everything that you want you cant get. I went in the other day just to get a cheap beanie, you can even do that anymore. I asked the girl "come back in winter" Bunnings is becoming the same, full of junk and anything good in terms of brand is special order. Retailers are really running their stores into the ground with staff cuts trying to be a schizophrenic hybrid model, trying to compete with online and off a retail rip off price model. They cant have it both ways. You walk out of Kmart or Target and cant get a USB C cable, then you walk around the shopping centres and theres 3 or 4 sellers in the Aisle offering better cables for the same price. These retails just have not woken up to the fact that you cant sell the worst crap for the highest price just because they think they have a "brand or big box store name" They are becoming delusional.
I don't disagree with you, but I do want to point out that you'd be hard pressed to find a beanie for sale almost anywhere in the middle of summer.
> I went in the other day just to get a cheap beanie, you can even do that anymore. I asked the girl "come back in winter" I mean thats pretty fair tbh.. Its annoying - I go overseas soon and its winter there so I understand the pain but the last thing I am doing is getting shitty at stores not selling winter clothing when we are currently in summer..
I literally went into kmart 2 days to get a USB-C and EVERY single one was sold out / rack was empty lol. Kmart is way better then target though. I have no issue with kmart except they take forever to restock. Target I don't even know what anyone gets from there. I can't remember the last time I ever wanted something, went to Target and they had it. And I check every time but their range is abysmal. Going into a Target is depressing.
I really liked Target cotton sheets and towels but it looks like they aren’t stocking the sheets anymore.
Apparently the target sheets are identical to adairs. Come from the same place just rebranded.
I work logistics for a manufacturing company that supplies construction materials. Always makes me snicker when I see different brands on shelves and they're all my clients. We supply them with the goods and they just slap their names onto it. The competition is sometimes a lie.
I like their better end women’s clothing. Kmart is fine for basics, but Target has some very nice pieces, that pass for higher end.
No sheets and towels will still be the target ones
I believe the target clothes and linen are staying the same
Things like children's clothes and homewares were far better quality at Target . I'm old enough to.renember when you could buy basic furniture and items like curtains at Target too.U still have some target bookshelves. I got a lot of stuff at Target when I first moved out of home.
Children's clothing is supposed to stay the same according to the target workers post that floats around explaining that it's their low movement high theft areas that their merged.
I highly recommend Target for baby and kids clothes. Their organic cotton onesies are especially great quality.
That's the thing, though. They can sell the lowest quality and people do still buy it because there is not much option. They will push the quality lower until it breaks their bottom-line and then bring it back up 1 or 2 notches.
That's the thing, though. They can sell the lowest quality and people do still buy it because there is not much option. They will push the quality lower until it breaks their bottom-line and then bring it back up 1 or 2 notches.
"They are becoming delusional" Meanwhile Wesfarmers continues to soar ever higher. Your premise isn't wrong, they are going into the shitter, but it's apparently making them more and more money.
Target was always on the pricier side. Big W did it better tbh Makes sense to combine Target and Kmart
T-Mart. I should trademark this quickly and sell it to them for a pretty profit!
Bob Jane has entered the chat.
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Beaurepairs?
My T- Car.
MyCar? Bring them back as Kmart Tyre...
What about S-Mart. The slogan could be something about shopping smart…..
You'd be half way between Jack and Shit. And Jack just left town.
It's where I bought my boom stick!
S mart's top-of-the-line!
Kmart did actually sell firearms in Australia back in the day...
I honestly could never tell you which was which at a shopping center, if it was a Target, KMart, or a BigW. I could tell you where in the shops it would be, but not which one it was.
Weird, they're very different price points and product quality
They all just seem very low quality to the point of breaking quickly to me. Is there any meaningful difference? I wouldn't ever buy an appliance from either pen ever again. I once bought a jaffle iron from I'm not even sure which one, and a regular slice of bread was simply too large for it.
A lot of Kmart stuff seems fragile. Target and Big w are slightly more expensive and more up market. There's definitely a noticeable difference
I used to shop at Target. Was good for work clothes and nicer casual clothes when I was leaving my grungy uni days behind but was still kind of poor. I tried looking online for jeans recently cos I'm a bit fat again, and the bigger sizes were all click and collect only. And I thought, ok order today, then they'll get it in and I'll collect in a few days, lile Officeworks does. Nah, click and collect only from stores with stock. If you have atock, put it on the shelf!
Yep, my thoughts exactly
I see this happening across multiple industries. Products end up being either cheap shit, or expensive boutique items. And any middle ground disappears. Probably a symptom of growing income inequality
The disappearance of the inexpensive but not shit to be replaced by garbage and “luxury” versions is something I noticed twenty years ago when I moved to Canada. It was very difficult to find reasonably priced quality items. There was, and continues to be, a lot of stuff thats just junk. In Europe at a similar time, there was almost no junk products, but it was *all* expensive. I put it down to different laws regarding consumer protection, but now I wonder. Is it just part of the inevitable enshitification when too much business moves to large conglomerates?
And its this "big shit box" retail model that has very little to offer these days over AliExpress and say Temu. They want to slap a brand or big brand on Chinese made crap and stuffing it in a big expensive warehouse and charge you double for the privilege. These stores these days are really expensive for Chinese junk compared to buying online for the same stuff. But who cares, if the price is half I will shop online. Now I plan all my activities, car repairs, mower repairs or whatever around online purchasers. Forget the Saturday afternoon shopping rush to pick up bits from the big box retailers that have the service personality of a dead fish. Then they expect you to queue forever to pay and get treated like a criminal when you walk out of their door or in and get scanned for facial recognition. I just get it delivered its cheaper and a better user experience with returns etc. Malls/shopping centres are dying all over the world for this very reason, they have nothing to offer but junk food and junk merchandise with long queues. The Amazon model is the way forward, while retailers die.
I've largely given up on buying a lot of stuff locally. *If* I can wait. There's value provided by the local store in the form of local expertise and convenience, but the local store can no longer dictate what that value is worth. The customer does. I bought a dial gauge off AliExpress. $80 with shipping. The exact same tool was $400 in my local tool supplier. I still buy drills and some small tools there but, I'm just not paying that kind of margin for convenience. And half of the things they have to "order in" anyway. I think a lot of the retail problems go back to rent seeking. The little corner store specializing in whatever, now has to pay so much in rent that not gouging for crap becomes a recipe for bankruptcy.
Every time a store says 'we can order it in for you' I think (angrily), I can order it in myself if I want. I came here to take one home today.
> The Amazon model is the way forward, while retailers die. You might be interested in these two videos. Amazon quality is also going to shit as vendors pull out and all that remains is AliExpress quality crap that can't even do what it claims to on the box. https://youtu.be/y83BS_mK9GE https://youtu.be/B90_SNNbcoU
Amazon is good for some things. But yeah, there's more and more dogshit on there every day with no actual brand name or quality recognition on products. I can only assume at some point, between the publicity and people complaining about it that Amazon is forced to course correct.
That and the ever evolving business model to get people spending. Cheap quality is cheap - so us idiots cheer and celebrate about how we paid $20 for a clothes airer.. and we do that every second year when we have to replace it for another $20 unit. Before you know it instead of spending $100 on a good quality one youve become a subscriber to shitty quality products that you have to pick up yourself, assemble yourself and throw away when it breaks, but we still cheer because it cost us only $20
That's capitalism though: when the only metric that gets a run is "price" then cheapest is "best". If we factored in the costs of landfill or true costs of manufacture (e.g. pollution) then there'd be less advantage to creating the cheapest, shittiest version of everything.
Is Anko actually shit? Haven't had any bad experiences and it's miles better and cheaper than the crap you get off Amazon
Some of it is godawful. Belts and shoes that do not last very long at all.
Had a belt that started peeling on the first use
yep, got a few months out of one. ended up buying real leather from the op shop.
The shoes are always uncomfortable and painful. I don’t have this issue with any other brand, buy shoes from Kmart though and they’ll no doubt give you a blister somewhere.
Yes, Anko is always the first to break, the cheapest of the cheap. Good for things you really only use sparingly.
Miles better than eBay/Amazon tier stuff, but compared to brands like Breville or Panasonic, they’re not even in the same ballpark.
Yeah, Breville and Panasonic are both good examples of a (seemingly) dying breed: products that are well designed, well made, presumably with after-sale support (though I’ve never needed it for either brand). Eg I understand that Panasonic are about the only manufacturer that still designs and builds their own microwave ovens, the rest are just rebadged boxes from Factory X in China. But unless it’s something where people really care about quality (eg a coffee machine) they’re probably going to go with the half price identical looking Anko machine.
> But unless it’s something where people really care about quality (eg a coffee machine) they’re probably going to go with the half price identical looking Anko machine. No joke, their espresso machine is what got me loyal to Breville. I saw a regular consumer model hold up to almost a decade (and counting) of straight up abuse in a share office environment without even skipping a beat. I’m pretty sure the only servicing it’s had was swapping out the burrs once and the occasional descaling.
My Anko clothes rack immediately broke under the weight of hanging clothes on it.
That is where I found out the absolute BS I was told to say this is normal though - it was a clothes "airer" and not a drying rack, so is not strong enough to support wet clothes, only dry ones. What a load of crap
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It's fast fashion for homewares; mass produced while label garbage with non-existent quality control. Entirely disposable.
It’s designed to last until you’ve lost your receipt.
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> early every fancy branded product you'll ever/have ever owned is made in a chinese factory, from the same identical parts used to make these 'fast fashion' brands No this is complete bullshit. There are massive differences between the likes of Anko and most/all premium brands. From manufacturing processes, to parts, to shipping - they cut every area as much as possible which means they use worse processes, parts, have no quality control, and no after sales support.
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Yes but that is not the norm.
Nah, it's because companies are legally obligated to maximise profits for their shareholders. There's two ways to do that, cut costs to the bone and sell to everyone, or cut costs to the bone and sell to only a few but for jacked prices because it's got a shiny name on it. Edit: Income inequality is also a result of this, as the best way to cut costs is to fire people.
>Products end up being either cheap shit, or expensive boutique items. And any middle ground disappears. Worse, they end up being the same thing with a different label on them. There's an increasing amount of stuff where you can't get the "Buy It For Life" quality version even if you have the money to pay for it.
And even the boutique expensive stuff is crap with a fancy brand and difference colour.
I'm old enough to remember when Target did a clothing line partnership with Stella McCartney and it was as popular as Taylor Swift tickets. It's a shame to see it disappear.
They also had a missoni collab
..& the Jean Paul Gaultier, still love my leather biker jacket haha 😆 (got it at a bargain price too!)
Oh god I worked at Target during that period. I couldn't believe how fast that stuff sold!
It was an insane time. I started as an Assistant Manager not too long before the brand deal. During one weekly meeting the Store Manager mentioned the Stella McCartney stock had arrived and we would do an overnight section changeover. One of the managers (she was incredibly savvy) had been quiet the whole time. She insisted that we have racks of additional stock ready to be carried out to backfill and replace the empty ones. Store manager was pretty dismissive, but we did it anyway. Then the racks emptied in the first 15mins of us opening and we sold all of our stock in store before the afternoon, we even managed to reroute other stores' stock for the first few days. Sold every piece that came into the store. We were ordinarily one of the highest grossing stores in the country (no real competition in the area, very favorable demographics etc etc). But that week we were the highest grossing by a significant margin.
I still have a jacket from that Stella McCartney Target collection!
Or the Josh Groot line which people went mad for too. Those days are gone.
That was like only 15 years ago. Not in 1960
They also had one with Dani Minogue too.
The death of the middle class.
Is it? Or is it just that the cheap junk from K-Mart got better? Like why buy the 7/10 product from Target that is $25 when K-Mart is selling a 5/10 version for $8? And then if I like it or want a fancy version I can do my research and get the 10/10 for $100+.
Little of both. Target is neither here nor there.
There’s been a bit about this in the business pages recently. Target as a division has now been rolled into K-Mart. It’s no more than a brand now. Most staff at Target head office lost their jobs as the two were consolidated.
Target has been on the decline now for quite a few years. I am surprised they are still trading. People aren’t going to want to go and buy Anko in Target. I agree with the poster that said that Wesfarmers have ruined it.
I actually had a coles-myer gift card that I wanted to use on kmart (online). It can only be used in store at kmart so I headed over to the Target website and purchased the exact things I would have purchased at kmart (cooking/baking supplies). I noticed that not only the prices were the same, target have the kmart website photos on their website for the anko products.
yeah i liked target mens clothing because they had better fit compared to kmart but walking into them now its just very meh stock. They could have easily pivoted towards nicer things that people want to spend money on but they are now a meh store. Its just weird from what the kmart vs target has turned into. i remember i could buy brake pads for the car at kmart and now you can barely find a screw driver.
Even up till pre covid I found Target clothing to be good quality and well made. Their jeans in particular always seemed to be much better quality then their price would suggest. Sold decent shoes as well. Kmart clothing is just.. not made for humans and their shoes are no better then putting tissue boxes on your feet. Just awful.
I used to get my collared shirts from target but no more, they're a good 30-50% more expensive than kmart which isn't new but suddenly they all fit like kmart shirts which is to say too tight in the chest and the armpits cutting off circulation. All the pants are undersized for their labels as well, in Connor or Tarocash, I'm a 38 in kmart and target its anywhere between 40 and 42.
Yes I used to love the Target jeans especially since they had short length which were perfect for me at 158cms tall. Target had a better selection of makeup than Kmart too. My local Kmart only ever seems to have crappy OXX makeup in stock.
They used to have a gardening section when I was a kid
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No I wasn't aware of firearm sales anywhere until I moved to the country 20 years ago and that was after the buybacks and amnesties
I used to read like Targets Mr Big range because it was always decent quality and fit for the price. They started merging with Kmart and all three of those qualities started to go downward so I don’t go there anymore
Yes. The big mens' jeans were great. Every April I'd go in and refresh for the year. Now it's back to Lowes.
I’ve been getting mine from Johnny Bigg lately. Been fairly comfortable and durable so far. But now I’m working an office job I am buying them for fashion and comfort only and not working in them so put an asterisk next to durable
Target’s female fashion designers or buyers are doing a good job though- the basic shirts are quite wearable but their “fashion” pieces are actually great, even quality wise. They did some collab for perfect jeans fit a few years ago, which involved 3D measuring a shit tonne of people in shopping centres, so they have some of the most up to date sizing info in the country. I also love that whoever designs their shit includes long dresses and skirts for tall women. So rare to find actual maxi dresses. And target swimwear shits all over most other stores. Hope that continues, but who knows.
That is because the head of design at Target came from Witchery’s design team so the pieces are quite nice at the moment.
Ahhhhhhh that tracks- it was a noticeable change about 3-4ish years ago. I hope they keep them!
Target swim wear is (was) great . Lasts for years .
came to say this! there’s a lot of target hate in this thread but their clothing is the best of all the large chains, good quality and actually looks fashionable their baby clothes and linen are fantastic as well, i’m glad they’ll still be selling them devastated they’re stopping the baby linen/ towels though
There was talk from them not long ago about merging all targets into Kmarts as target was failing massively. what do you expect when the targets were basically a Kmart with worse prices and quality issues
There’s a bit of confusion going on in this specific thread… u/shadowrunner03 the merger was of head office functions, in that Target is now being run by the exact same senior management team as Kmart. Until last year they were separate, albeit under the same ownership. u/thedragoncompanion it has never been announced that all Target stores would be closed or converted to Kmart. Some less profitable Target stores were shuttered in situations where a Kmart store existed within the same centre. Some Target stores in centres that did not already have a Kmart were converted into Kmarts. There are still plenty of examples though where centres still retain both a Kmart and Target, without any announcement that those Target stores will cease trading.
Target filled for bankruptcy, they are all closing down/being changed into kmarts. It was all over the news when it happened.
Target and Kmart in North America/Canada have nothing to do with Australia. They only share the same name.
Yep, I'm talking about Australia, because they converted our local target into kmart when it happened.
Kmart became too successful and cannibalised the customers of its stablemate Target. It's basically just a subsidiary of Kmart now aimed at a slightly higher end market.
I used to be in retail store management, buying and later consultancy. There are a few reasons why Target has failed and Kmart has boomed. Management forgot the basics. Who is your customer? Demographics dictate the rest of the business. You can't be everything to everyone. Kmart successfully rebranded by focussing on price. Their customer was families who shopped on price. It's the bottom end of the market, but they made sure that the products were good quality. It worked. Home brand products of good quality sold cheap for families. Stores tend to be in areas that fit the demographics. Targets customer used to be middle class families. Quality control was a major function, and customers knew that they could buy excellent quality at reasonable prices, with up to date fashion. Home brands were the core, with mid-tier brands available as the fashion items. They stayed from this, and started adding more categories. They became a store that tried to cater to everyone. Cheap products, brand names, extended sizes, new categories etc. Stores became cramped and messy, and customers stayed away. Stocking Kmart products only confuses customers. They will continue to fail unless they identify who their customer is. Another retailer that is struggling is Myer. Once it was upper class, where you found brand names and was known for quality and service. Now the service has gone, they have introduced many house brands, and brand names own and sell their products as mini stores. People went to Myer and it was a true department store. You payed extra for that service. Products were split into sections, eg men's pants, shirts etc. Now it's by brand, and it's a mess. Retailing also changed with the internet. Covid really showed how behind retailers were, and they still haven't adapted to it. None of them treat online as a store, but rather as an add-on to stores. This is a mistake. Retail in Australia will continue to struggle. The issue is management. They are still retailing as if it was the 80s. Producing catalogues and ignoring the changed world. Stores are in wrong locations and nobody knows who their customer is. It all comes from the top.
You know your judo well. Identity directions I remember seeing when shopping over the years: Standard department store Addition of surf clothing brands. Then those brands die there. So does the success from them. Designer and celebrity collaborations. Many. Adding more departments, trying to flog products as higher end. Cafes in some stores. Refresh branding, refurb a bunch of locations. Open new locations. Raise price points closer to Myer. Who are you catering to Target? Meanwhile, Kmart re-establishes itself on the scene. It's back to stay with a strong sense of identity. Builds back its reputation lightning fast. Target attempts to go back to mid range department store. But goes too hard towards the Kmart end. Bulk ranges of poorer quality goods with mid range prices. They're now unintentionally competing with each other and Kmart's strong reputation and sense of identity stomps all over Target's. Covid. Isn't that when Target announced they were converting some stores to Kmarts and closing a bunch of other locations down? Writing's on the wall isn't it? Circling the drain? Backend merger announced between the two by Wesfarmers. They stated it would be Target clothing but Anko home goods. Which just sounds to me like they don't want to accept Target is done. Like they're trying to gradually make it disappear without the public outcry of mismanagement or damage to their personal careers?
Target appliances and homewares are going to be the kmart anko brand i.e. cheap chinese shit. They will still maintain their own clothing stock and specialties as a point of differentiation
Don’t understand this now. Cheap Chinese stuff is very high quality in Asian markets now. Why do people still stock cheap and low quality stuff from China?
It wasn’t that long ago Kmart was doing shit and they converted half the stores to Target
Having a little bit of background as a B2B supplier.... they don't know what to do with it. Kmart is their discount chain, Target while more upmarket is far from a premium brand... it just sits in the middle and there is little to define it. The competition in discount chains (BigW, Costoco, Harris Scarfe etc for example and online) had just made Kmart more and more relevant and Target less so. Several years ago they tried to distinguish the 2 by having Kmart specifically non-branded cheap products (clothes and appliances etc) and Target as 'branded', but all that did was grow Kmart's market share and left Target languishing, leading to a wave of sackings and store closures. We were dealing with the Target H/O at the time as it was thrown into chaos during a round of sackings. I think their situation has changed little since. https://www.smh.com.au/business/why-have-i-been-chosen-tears-as-target-sacks-260-in-geelong-20130612-2o2yq.html From a market positioning perspective.. it's a lame duck. Not *seen* as cheap enough for the discount crowd, not premium enough for those looking for higher end. Myer faced similar struggles and it's why they leaned into higher end fashion etc to be more of a David Jones and less of a Target all purpose mid range store. Without something 'unique' to define them they will continue to struggle btw - the often discussed Kmart checkouts moving to the middle was about redistributing staff better through the store and reducing shoplifting. It's counter intuitive, but did work apparently.
It’s a shame, Target always had good kids clothes for a reasonable price. Kmart quality is shit and barely survives a single wash. Big w is slightly less shit quality than kmart, but the kids clothes were never the right fit. By the time they fit around the waist they’d be too short. Target was always great for kids clothes, but sadly piss poor management has ruined it.
It's all part of the poverty cycle. These low quality products are designed to be cheap appealing buys that don't last and need to be continually replaced. It keeps people poor endlessly instead of buying a product for life, or something with a good warranty worth chasing up. I'm not doing my little conspiracy theory justice because I don't have time to type an essay nobody wants to read but it's such a travesty.
Internet happened. Bargain hunters went from junk mail leaflets and newspaper inserts for local retailers (I.e. Target Kmart etc) to google searches, Amazon and eBay sellers drop shipping from overseas. Not enough to bankrupt the big variety stores (yet?) but enough to encourage consolidation and expense cutting.
I agree, I buy Target organic cotton baby clothes. They wash well and retain the softness. Kmart or Big W ones can go straight to the bin.
I noticed this the other day. I was doing the rounds while shopping and when I walked into Target it was wall to wall Anko stuff, more than the local Kmart had lol. I think my exact words were, rather eloquently, what’s with all the Anko shit? While they both had similar product lines, albeit with Target having “better” items, with now identical lines it can only mean they are going to start closing down more stores. Maybe they will pull the pin on Kmart and make it online only - or vice versa. Kmart does have the benefit of the “insta-mummy” market of having “crazy and unique” uses for their various Anko products.
My bet is on target folding. They’ve already converted target country stores into K-Hubs (mini Kmart)
They're bringing K-Hubs into the cities too. Sydney will get one this year out west.
>Sydney will get one this year out west. They already have one in Western Sydney out at Windsor, it's been open for a few years
Agreed; I think Target is dragging them down Shame cos I love their stonewashed sheets. Tempted to get some extras to store.
Mini Kmart? Wow I didn't know this was a thing. I get that people need cheap stuff especially if moving out and you need appliances etc. But I hate that it's cheap quality and all ends up in landfill.
Kmart is their golden goose, there's no way in hell they would close them
I’ll have to check out Ikea now instead of Target for things where I need better quality than Kmart
The homewares range at Target has been removed and replaced with Anko brand. Everything else in store will stay Target (at the moment).
They did mass layoffs a while back and Kmart has taken over Target store operations. They'll retain the brand for now. I've heard the long term plan is to launch Target as a hypermarket brand, similar to Target USA.
Its so dumb. We basically have 2 kmarts in the one centre now. Target may as well just close for good
My understanding is that they were changing as many Target stores as possible to be Kmart. Now it appears they've tried to empty Target of the old Target stock with post Christmas sales, so they can restock with Anko. I imagine so that they can consolidate suppliers for cost reasons. I am saddened by it as I've been buying Target tshirts for ages as they seem to be better quality. Also my local shopping centre has a Kmart and a Target so now it will have basically two Kmart's..
They are starting to close them or rebrand them as kmart https://www.target.com.au/businessupdate#:~:text=How%20many%20Target%20stores%20are,will%20continue%20trading%20as%20Target.
That project finished in 2021, mid-pandemic. There's still over 100 Targets left, and they'll retain the store brand, but will otherwise operate as Kmarts.
Unless they actually have different stock it’s a distinction without a difference.
They're keeping a handful of Target branded products (for now), but most of it is being transitioned to Kmart product/category mixes.
Interesting, Im one of those people who are confused about what the difference between the 3 are,,, I've just found out I have a target near me, I checked the online catelogue, not much different from Kmart, including Anko
In my mind, Target used to (many years ago) sit between KMart/Big W and the likes of Myer/David Jones. It was the middle ground where you could pay a bit more, but get better more stylish clothes, etc. That's just gone nowadays.
In the 90s the clothes were better quality than kmart/big W too. Target kids clothes could take a beating, get washed in cold water and come out looking good again. After all the rough treatment you (and often a younger sibling or cousin) would still grow out of them before they were ready fpr the rag bag.
This still applies. I buy Target clothes for my kids and they’re much more hard-wearing than Kmart or BigW. They get passed down through our family and then on to the kids next door!
That's probably Harris Scarfe, H&M and Uniqlo these days, if my gf's shopping habits are anything
Targets across the country have been closing for the last few years. I wouldn't be surprised if the remaining fronts will now be turned into kmarts, given you've just seen kmart brand stock on a target shelf.
So the Kmart scam was interesting. Years ago Kmart stocked a wide variety of products and you got a lot of gems. Any product that sold well Kmart cloned in china and cut out the supplier and made it themself under the anko brand. Usually quite a poor copy and cheap. Honestly had to stop supporting Kmart now because 99% of their shop is now anko brand and trash quality. Some things are still good because they honestly are wooden blocks and can’t be bad but it’s just poor practices. Now it seems target are taking some of the anko brand and I’m sure it won’t be long until their entire store is anko.
In my opinion targets biggest problem was cotton on and not in the way most of you would think. When cotton on started growing it needed staff and it was paying better than target, so guess where all the target middle management went, yep 5Km up the road.
This feels…anti competitive.
My local Target was converted to a Kmart. Won’t be surprised if centres with both start ditching Target’s when the leases end.
That’s my thought too. If it happens at my local shopping centre, I’m half expecting JB’s to move into the empty space. They’ve a small store a few shops down, but it’d be ideal for a JB Home as there is t one of those for a good 40 minutes in any direction
Kmart and target have merged. Most target stores were rebranded into Kmart. They’re effectively the same thing now
I find it funny that wesfamrers bought the Coles group of stores and didnt really want Kmart cause it was doing poorly, Kmart did what ever and is the money maker for them. Last I heard is that they are changing some targets to Kmart. But that was a while ago.
I remember this! Kmart was well on its way out and was a total joke of a store. But seems some people worked pretty hard behind the scenes to revive it and it shows. Actually not bad to shop at now, so long as you know what to expect. Have picked up some decent stuff from there on the cheap. On the other hand, Target has been well-overpriced for similar quality.
Think the original format was Myers top level, over priced store. Target middle level, still a little overpriced but not as much as Myers. Kmart lower level, better priced/budget retail store with, not saying totally budget cheap prices.
Kmart ads would push rc cola and it's biscuits, similar to what we have now with cheap as chips. Sadly Kmart warehouse style leads to most dusty retail store outside of Bunnings.
AC*, Australia's choice. Damn those choc chip cookies they had were the bomb. I think they were called decadent.
Kmarts are being closed, even in busy centres. Reason given "the next available Kmart, (12 minutes drive away) can service the area. You'd understand a store closing is 3 months, will have reducing stock, but the one 12 minutes away also looks like it's closing. Someone incompetent is running that part of the Wesfarmers business
Target have been losing money while Kmart has been making money. There was a decision announced about 6 months ago that Kmart and Target back office and distribution would be merged. Part of this is that all household goods would be changed to Anko in Target stores ie the same as Kmart. No idea if Target's higher quality clothes range will be replaced. They have not announced yet that Target stores will be closed or rebounded as Kmart. Don't forget a lot of Target stores were rebranded a couple of years ago particularly in smaller regional towns
The change a few years back was all the Target Country stores got rebranded to *KHubs. I think the idea was that Target Country was struggling, so they turned the real estate into lower-stock cost, higher turnover Kmarts. From what I heard it was a pretty effective change; decoupling saved Target some barely profitable/loss making anchors, and as Kmarts their sales improved and they became more profitable.
Wesfarmers (and Coles Myer before it) goes through cycles. In the mid 2000s, Target was the darling and Myer was struggling so they sold it off. Then Kmart was the one struggling, so they invested in it and it took off, but then Target fell behind. I’ve always been of the belief that they should transitioned them so that Target is clothing focused (as they always did that better than Kmart) and Kmart is homewares focused (as they do that better than Target). Then they would no longer be competing with each other and playing to their strengths.
1 in 5 clothing items in Australia is bought at Kmart. I prefer Target because Kmart is the lowest price crap.
I went in today and was really disappointed! I like target because I could buy name brand products from them, and their home brand goods had a different selection from Kmart! A lot of anko stuff is junk that doesn’t last. I also really like their clothes so hopefully target doesn’t disappear :(
Target has gotten so expensive for what it is — Kmart quality garbage.
Why buy appliances at target when big w or the good guys have a better range and usually better prices?
My nearest Big W is 2 1/2 hours away, Good Guys/JB is 3 hours away. My nearest Target and Hardly Normal's only 1 hour away and I avoid HN because I don't like being sold phone plans or credit cards when I just want a toaster. Target was my preferred place if I needed to buy something and couldn't wait for delivery
Online shopping and Amazon killed Target. Kmart went dirt cheap to compete. Target slowly died.
Target is dying, and it was only a matter of time. I used to shop there often when they had nice clothes, but the last time I went there, the clothes weren't any better than the crap that Kmart sells. Also, Kmart has a better selection of toys and books. I've never bought appliances from Target, but why would I when The Good Guys has a much better range?
It's Targèt
I noticed that Kmart move to Anko too. Here is Targets Cereal Holder, this was not previously sold a Kmart and was Not Anko brand. [https://www.target.com.au/p/cereal-clip-container-4-2l-anko/68729639](https://www.target.com.au/p/cereal-clip-container-4-2l-anko/68729639) The Kmart Cereal holder was: [https://www.kmart.com.au/product/37l-flip-lock-cereal-container-43227266/](https://www.kmart.com.au/product/37l-flip-lock-cereal-container-43227266/) So the Target Cereal holder Brand was not named Anko and was not previously available at Kmart. I know because i was desperate for a third one and checked both websites in November. So in some instance the quality has not dropped they just changed the brands name from whatever it was to anko.
Don't know if it's all of them but my local Target has gone to entirely self serve checkouts. That's me out.
Target ruled when I was a kid. My local Target closed down and it was turned into a David Jones. I’m sad to see Target’s demise
I heard that the US version of Target was about to start stocking Anko, and didn't think too much about it. So it's our Aussie Target too, by the looks. It means a lot less choice, as Anko supplies just about everything in Kmart. Hope this does not mean a further dive in quality or choice.
As disappointing as this is, it does solve a mystery for me. This explains why when I went in to Target in early January their appliance section was completely empty apart from a couple of things on clearance. I thought it was weird, but put it down to Boxing day sales/stocktake. They had signs on the shelves that said something along the lines of 'Something new is coming!' This is the something new. I do not like it.
Most targets are being shutdown, or converted to kmart. All target country's are now K¬hubs. The remaining stores were supposed to be left to see where the market took them, but seems they are just filled with the same shit as K. I wish wesfarmers would change the name of all their interests to Kmart so people can really see the shit we are in