Apparently hoping a few more hours a day may be an easy step to boosting top-line growth, Target is reportedly testing the extension of hours at more than half of its stores in the U.S.
On weekdays and Saturday, many stores will close at 11:00 p.m. or midnight versus 10:00 p.m. previously, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. On Sundays, closing time is 10:00 p.m. or 11:00 versus 9:00 p.m. previously. The stores will continue to open at 8:00 a.m.
The new hours, which start this month, will be tested through the holidays. Target spokesman Eric Hausman told the Journal that shoppers had been asking for longer hours and that a number of shoppers were still in the store near closing time.
"We did a lot more analysis into how big an opportunity this is, and there is a really big opportunity here," Mr. Hausman said.
Holiday shopping hours have been aggressively extended by many stores over the last few years with many open for multiple-days before Christmas. But non-holiday hours have generally been left unchanged in recent years.
Target has been conservative with extended hours compared to its chief rival, Walmart, which reportedly keeps 70 percent of its U.S. stores open 24 hours a day.
However, an Associated Press report back in 2011 noted that Walmart is shifting select locations in such places as Indianapolis, Montgomery, AL, Fayetteville, NC, and Baltimore from 24-hour schedules to 6:00 a.m. to midnight hours to better reflect shopping patterns in those regions. Other chains operating at least some 24-hour stores include Meijer, Kroger, Marsh and Kmart.
Among the majors, Costco has the reputation for the fewest operational hours. The warehouse club's hours are:
- Weekdays: 10:00 AM - 8:30 PM
- Saturdays: 9:30 AM - 6:00 PM
- Sundays: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM