Target Corporation
CorpDigest
Target Corporation
Company History
Founded 1902 in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Last reviewed: 2026-06-03 · By Swet Parvadiya
Target Corporation was founded in 1902 in Minneapolis, Minnesota by George Dayton. The company operates in Retail and is led by Brian Cornell. Revenue model: Target earns revenue from stores and digital channels across household goods, apparel, beauty, food, essentials, and owned brands. Target Corporation reported $104.8B in revenue for fiscal year 2026. Market capitalization stands at approximately $41.0B. The company employs approximately 415K people globally. Competitive position: Target's advantage is curated merchandising, owned brands, convenient stores, same-day fulfillment, and a brand position between discount and style-led retail. Strategic direction: Target is improving traffic, value perception, store fulfillment, loyalty, owned brands, and inventory discipline after a period of weaker discretionary demand.
George Dayton founded the business that became Target by acquiring Goodfellow's Dry Goods Company in 1902 and turning it into Dayton's, a respected Minneapolis department store. His direct role was not to create the Target discount format, which arrived in 1962, but to build the organization, reputation, and family-led governance structure that made that later experiment possible. Dayton focused on fair prices, dependable merchandise, employee welfare, and civic responsibility at a time when local department stores were central institutions in American cities. After his leadership, the Dayton family continued to guide the company across generations, allowing the business to evolve from department stores into discount retail without losing its service and merchandising instincts. His lasting influence is visible in Target's unusual position: a mass retailer that still talks about design, community, employee culture, and brand trust as strategic assets. Dayton's legacy is not a single product but a retail temperament that made the bullseye feel more curated than a typical discount store.
Target acquired Shipt to accelerate same-day delivery capabilities and strengthen its omnichannel retail position. The acquisition gave Target immediate access to a technology platform and shopper network instead of requiring the company to build the entire last-mile system from scratch.
Target acquired Grand Junction, a transportation technology company, to improve local delivery routing and carrier management. The deal supported Target's broader move to turn stores into faster fulfillment assets.
Target acquired CHEFS Catalog to expand its cooking and kitchenware e-commerce presence. The transaction was part of an effort to add category depth and digital merchandising capability in a market where specialty online retail was growing.
Target acquired assets of Cooking.com alongside CHEFS Catalog to strengthen its cooking and kitchenware digital offering. The goal was to add online assortment, content, and category credibility beyond the standard store shelf.
Target acquired leasehold interests from Zellers to enter Canada quickly with a large store base. The transaction was intended to give Target immediate physical scale in a neighboring market with existing brand awareness among Canadian shoppers.