Target just announced a new partnership with Disney, and it is going to change the way we look at retail in the future.

On Sunday Target announced its partnership with Disney, creating a new and interesting shopping experience for fans of both brands.  In October, 25 “Disney Stores” within Target will open, with another 40 planned for next year.

The Disney Stores will average 750 square feet within each selected Target location.  The stores within the main store will be located next to the kids clothing and toy aisles, and Target employees will receive special training via Disney, to enhance its brand.

The partnership is great for several reasons. To start, both companies are essentially multiplying their Brand Power through the synergies of this partnership. Considering there’s about a 90% overlap between the two brand’s customers, this partnership was a no-brainer. Even the CEO of Target, Brian Cornell, stated that Disney is among their largest and most admired brand relationships.

Disney entered the retail space decades ago, and in 1997, peaked at 749 stores. Unfortunately, they were hit hard after the financial collapse leading to the closure of hundreds of stores, and the selling off of hundreds more.
Target, on the other hand, is a company that is not only resilient, but also proven to withstand recessions and poor economic events due to their business model of targeting the middle class with quality, low-cost goods, along with a steady supply of inelastic goods.

This partnership would allow Disney to leverage Target’s strengths in the retail market while mitigating the risk of opening a brick-and-mortar location of Their Own.

This doesn’t mean that Target is the only partnership Disney will pursue, as Disney has in the past taken similar approaches with brands such as Best Buy and Apple.

This partnership gives us an interesting perspective on the future of retail. Perhaps the brick-and-mortar locations should be left to those who are hardy and resilient in this space, brands with not much experience in the retail space could leverage similar partnerships to enhance customer reach while minimizing the risks of full-blown standalone locations.