I love Target. There are some weeks I'm there almost every day! And every single time I visit, we go to the food court. I always get a soda, and sometimes popcorn or a pretzel, and my kids get juice, or if they're been REALLY good, an ICEE. I was annoyed when you made the food court smaller in order to add a Starbucks, because why do we need a FIFTH Starbucks in town?! But at least we still had the Food Court!
Not anymore. I saw today that you are getting rid of the food court in order to make the gosh darned Starbucks bigger. What in the WORLD are you thinking? Don't answer that, I know exactly what you're thinking. You're thinking of the "bottom line," and I'm guessing the Starbucks must generate more money that your food court.
Of COURSE it generates more money, on paper, than Target's food court. Their drinks are overpriced. There's also name recognition. So, dollar for dollar, if you compare the revenue brought in to the food court versus Starbucks, it's going to *look* like Starbucks rakes in the dough.
However, you're not thinking of the moms like me, who spend a couple of bucks at the food court, and THEN proceed to walk into the store and spend another $100 on groceries, kids clothes, and home items. I can give my kids an ICEE and they can be occupied just a little longer, long enough to let me shop a little more. And if I'm trying to decide between whether I should pick up my groceries at Safeway or Target, Target always wins out because I can grab popcorn and a soda. But if it's Starbucks I'm craving that day (which is VERY rare), I can go to either Safeway *or* Target, because you both have Starbucks. I can go literally anywhere to get a $6 Starbucks, but the only place I can grab a tasty popcorn combo is from Target.
Sometimes, the food court is the ONLY thing that brings me to Target, like when I promise my children ICEES (or when ICEES were my pregnancy craving during my last pregnancy.) On the flipside, I think it's safe to assume that Starbucks isn't the ONLY thing bringing customers to your store, since they can buy those coffees anywhere.
Now, I suppose one of the options is to let my kids start having those caffeinated, sugary, overpriced Starbucks drinks instead of the ICEES, and that's probably what you're aiming for. But that won't happen with *this* family, because my oldest son has food allergies. He could go into anaphylactic shock if he consumes anything from Starbucks because they sell nut products. That also means we can't treat our kids to a quick ice cream like most families, which is why the ICEES are so near and dear to us. ICEES are the only option out there to give frozen treats to my food allergic son. So even if you continue to sell the ICEES, but make me order them from Starbuck's, we'll not longer be able to buy them.
I really, really hope you'll reconsider ditching Livermore Target's food court in favor of Starbucks. I'd love to see something like your Dublin East branch, where you have a smaller food court and a HUGE Starbucks, but at least you still have the food court. read more