Target releases first flyer ahead of grand opening
Target Canada released its first-ever weekly flyer Thursday, one day before the company officially opened for business in this country.
The 28-page flyer offers price cuts, per cent off deals and bonus gift cards on items in each department, including grocery.
It was distributed through community papers and on Target’s company website, according to spokeswoman Lisa Gibson.
As anticipated, the flyer’s release coincided with Target’s grand opening on Friday. Though the company “soft launched” 24 Ontario stores in March, it hadn’t officially opened until today.
Groceries deals were featured at the back of the flyer, alongside household products, beauty and pet food.
The deals were relatively impressive: Dempster’s Soft Sliced Bread, for example, was on sale for $2.29.
Kraft Dinner is going for 99¢, and 12 packs of Pepsi cans are three for $15, with a bonus gift card thrown in for good measure.
In terms of refrigerated products, Target is offering an eight pack of Iogo Greko yogurt for $5.99.
The full flyer can be viewed here, on Target’s website.
Now that Target has released its flyer, the Canadian price war has officially begun, according to experts.
In his analyst note about the flyer, Peter Sklar of BMO wrote that “aside from this limited number of aggressively priced specials, our view was that there was not much to get 'excited' about with respect to the scope of Target’s grocery offering.”
Overall, Sklar said his impression of Target’s first flyer was “its similarity to that of a non-Supercentre Walmart store, and that Target was more focused on educating Canadians about Target with six pages dedicated to introducing the brand and corporate initiatives such as sustainability and its REDcard loyalty program that instantly saves shoppers 5% on their purchases.”
Perry Caicco, managing director of CIBC World Markets, recently said in a report that “real pricing action” is promotional in Canada.
Keep returning to CanadianGrocer.com for the latest updates on this "war."