Target Focuses on Healthful Foods

MINNEAPOLIS — Target Corp. here said last week it has launched an initiative to place more emphasis on healthful food offerings.

“We are expanding our assortment of healthy alternatives in our food categories, and we will be featuring those products more prominently in our circular and endcaps,” said Gregg Steinhafel, president, in a conference call discussing results for the second quarter that ended July 29. He did not provide additional details.

He also said Target has been able to raise prices at the shelf to accommodate the food cost increases it has seen, and noted that the pace of inflation seemed to have abated in the second quarter.

“The marketplace has been receptive in terms of passing those cost increases along to the consumer,” he said.

Target opened 32 general merchandise stores through the second quarter, plus 10 SuperTarget locations offering a full range of grocery products. For the fiscal year, the company said it remains on track for 43 general merchandise locations and 18 SuperTargets.

The company reported a 12.6% gain in net income for the second quarter, to $686 million, on a 9.5% gain in revenues, to $14.62 billion, compared with year-ago results. Comparable-store sales rose 4.6%.

For the six-month span, net income rose 15%, to $1.34 billion, on a 9.4% gain in revenues, to $28.66 billion.