Last weekend I made my often-traveled trip to my local Target
On this particular trip, I noticed a trend at Target that has me wondering what the company has in store for our shopping future. It's a trend I like to call "grocery sprawl."
Retail is changing
When I was growing up, Target wasn't known for groceries. Stores had milk, chips, and maybe some Hot Pockets, but you didn't make a trip to Target to feed the family. That began to change after Wal-Mart
Even at your standard stores, groceries have become a larger part of the layout. At the headquarters, Target groceries used to cover one row of aisles. Slowly they spilled across the aisle into another row. Now I'm worried my DVDs will come home smelling like Wonder bread.
A necessary change
It's really been a survival technique used by retailers as an onslaught of competitors entered the market. Best Buy's
Target may in fact become more of a grocery store all the time, and maybe it's not such a bad thing. I'm not a big fan of shopping, and if Target can provide everything I need with one-stop shopping, I'm all for it. Groceries definitely make Target a shopping stop that can't be found online. Maybe it isn't Wal-Mart that should be looking for a bulls-eye on its back but Nash-Finch and Supervalu instead. It's not just Wal-Mart and Target that are trying this out either. Walgreen
Groceries are just one part of the changing face of retail, though. The industry is constantly changing, and our analysts have two stock picks that will profit from evolving consumer behavior. In our free report, "The Death of Wal-Mart: The Real Cash Kings Changing the Face of Retail," we reveal these picks -- but hurry, the report won't last forever.