Shop Talk

Target has become synonymous with its big red bulls-eye logo, but now the discounter wants customers to also gravitate toward a new symbol — an arrow.

In a bid to appeal to penny-pinching shoppers, Target is giving its namesake Target Brand, which includes staple items like tissues, diapers and sunscreen, a makeover. It is now showing up on Target’s shelves wrapped in new packaging marked with a big arrow and it has been given a new name — up & up.  (Check out the new look, pictured to the left vs. the old look below) 

Target, which reported a much better than expected quarterly profit on Wednesday, talked to Reuters ahead of the results about its goals for up & up — which is one of its biggest private brands.

“We believe that it will stand out on the shelf, and it is so distinctive that we’ll get new guests that will want to try it that maybe didn’t even notice the Target brand before,” Kathee Tesija, Target’s executive vice president of merchandising, told Reuters.

Look for Target to promote the brand, which tends to be priced about 30 percent less than brand-name equivalent products, in its weekly advertising circulars, online and in its stores.

But name-brand consumer product makers that sell products in Target’s stores that compete with up & up should be on high alert to ensure they can protect their shelf space.

Tesija told Reuters that while name-brand merchandise is very important to Target,  name-brand items that are not the No. 1 or No. 2 product in their category could be replaced by an up & up item.

(Photos provided by Target)