MINNEAPOLIS -- Target Corp. here said last week it would divest its long-ailing Mervyn's and Marshall Field's divisions.
n the process. The options include a sale of both businesses, Target said. While it did not spell out other alternatives, it also could sell off the businesses in pieces, or even liquidate them if no suitable offers emerge.
For years, there have been reports that Target Corp., which also operates Target Stores, would try to sell the divisions, but it always denied the reports and made attempts to revive the businesses.
Field's, also based here, operates 62 stores in eight states in the upper Midwest. In 2003, Field's sales fell 4% to $2.6 billion, with pretax profits of $107 million.
Mervyn's, based in Hayward, Calif., is a promotional chain with 266 units in 14 states, primarily in the West and South. In 2003, the chain's sales slid 6.9% to $3.6 billion, and had $160 million in pretax profits.
