Target

By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO, Associated Press Troy Warren for CNT #Business  NEW YORK — Target will no longer open its stores on Thanksgiving Day, making permanent a shift to the unofficial start of the holiday season that was suspended during the pandemic. To limit crowds in stores, retailers last year were forced to turn what had become a weekend shopping blitz into an extended event, with holiday sales beginning as early as October. That forced shift appears to have been fortuitous. U.S. holiday sales last November and December rose 8.2% in 2020 from the previous year, according to The National Retail Federation,…

By The Associated Press Troy Warren for CNT #Business Target’s streak of strong results extended into its latest quarter, but its skyrocketing online sales growth has come back to earth. The Minneapolis retailer reported Wednesday that sales at its stores that have been open for at least a year rose 8.7% in the three-month period that ended July 31. That was on top of a 10.9% growth in the same 2020 span. And like Walmart, Target saw a slowdown from last year’s blistering online sales growth as more shoppers came out of their pandemic-forced isolation. Target’s online sales rose 10% its…