Target is looking to shorten the distance from farm to plate with a planned test of vertical farms, an agricultural technique that involves growing plants and vegetables indoors in climatized conditions. What do you think of Target’s vertical farming test? Do you see more potential benefit to the supply chain or marketing efforts?

Target and three other retailers have partnered with natural language processing startup AddStructure to roll out what an AddStructure co-founder describes as a “white-label” spin on Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant, according to a Chicago Tribune report. Will natural language processing combined with machine learning take the online shopping experience to the next level?

Knowing the slim chances of startups making it alone, Blueprint Registry applied to Target’s highly competitive retail accelerator program, and was one of 11 companies chosen. What do you think of the accelerator process that Blueprint Registry went through?

Mimicking the reality TV show, “Shark Tank,” 11 “dreamers, doers and makers” on Sept. 20 delivered pitches in front of nearly 1,000 tech and retail experts at Minneapolis’ Orchestra Hall as a conclusion to the first Target + Techstars Retail Accelerator program. What are the benefits and limits of tech accelerator competitions for retailers?

Jason Goldberger, who was named Target’s chief digital officer in May, and who has served as president of Target.com since 2014, has left the company. Why do you think Target shuffled its executive deck?

Target is testing a rewards program known as “Cartwheel Perks” that gives customers who use the app the opportunity to earn credit toward purchases or to get free items. Will the addition of rewards on top of percentage off discounts and digital coupons result in more downloads of the Cartwheel app?

Target’s announcement yesterday about its hiring plans for the Christmas selling season points to how staffing needs have changed for retailers in recent years with more sales being processed online. Given the growth of e-commerce, how do you expect retail holiday hiring will have changed five years from now?

Target, according a Wall Street Journal report, is creating dedicated teams of employees in its stores whose sole purpose will be to work in grocery and not split time in other departments. Will Target’s changes to regional staffing and merchandising lift its grocery business?

Storewide sales are a regular occurrence at department stores but a rarity for a big-box discounter. Do the benefits of its one-off storewide promotion outweigh the risks for Target?

Target announced that it will no longer do business with Welspun after the retailer discovered that sheets labeled as being made with Egyptian cotton were not. Is there anything else you think the chain should do to meet or exceed the expectations of customers who purchased the mislabeled sheets?

Back in April 2015, Target CEO Brian Cornell called food a “critically important area of opportunity” for the retailer. Which of Target’s actions to remake its grocery business do you see as most positive?

Yesterday, a number of Amazon devices, including the Kindle, Fire sticks and tablets, were back on target.com and Target plans to have the devices in all its stores across the U.S. by October. What is your reaction to Target reauthorizing Amazon’s devices?

If you can’t beat ‘em, sell their products. That appears to be at least partially the case with the news that Target is teaming up with Harry’s, the shaving products subscription service. What do you see as the value of the Target/Harry’s deals for each company?

Two recent articles point to the importance of not only making tech investments, but doing so in a way that helps move the corporate needle forward. How critical is tech R&D to the success of retailers?

For years, the big box was derided as the major threat to the survival of the local independent store. More recently, however, the online giants have become an equal or more ominous menace. Has online become a bigger threat to the prosperity of local independents than big box competition?

Seeking to connect with a younger, urban audience through their small-format concept, Target’s latest stores are not only going smaller to accommodate urban life, they’re getting flexible with what they’re offering. Are small, flexible-format stores a good urban expansion strategy for Target and other chains?

What are online super fans worth to retailers? Well, over 560,000 subscribers is nothing to sneeze at. That’s how many Instagram followers Jen Coleman and Laura Wiertzem have established with their @TargetDoesItAgain account. How can retailers work to encourage and capitalize on social media super fans?

Target last week introduced Cat & Jack, a comprehensive kids and baby collection that the retailer expects will generate $1 billion in sales in its first year. Can children’s apparel work as a differentiator for Target in the same way as style and home?

At the Internet Retailer Conference and Expo in Chicago, two retailers described their different experiments with using stores in addition to, or in place of, distribution centers in two sessions. Do you expect ship-from-store to become more central to e-commerce fulfillment in the years to come?

Last summer Target opened Open House in San Francisco, focusing on smart home technology. Now the company is launching a pilot of Connected Living, an area within one of the chain’s stores in Minnetonka, MN. Do you see Target as being prudent or overly cautious in its approach to the Internet of Things opportunity?

Hopes were high back in 2014 when Target launched a pilot of the Curbside mobile app in San Francisco. Yet the trial failed to produce the results Target was looking for, so the company has announced that it will discontinue Curbside in its stores on June 15. What do you see as the pros and cons of online programs facilitating orders picked up inside stores?

Over the past year-and-a-half, Target has made an attempt to carve out a distinct, new identity. But the chain’s most fundamental change may now be on the way, as the company tests multiple alterations to the look and feel of its stores.

In the frictionless world of online retailing, getting the order is easy. Delivering on the promise is hard. At Shoptalk last week, retail thought-leaders shared insights about the fulfillment challenge. Their consensus: it’s not going to get any easier. Which delivery benefit should online retailers focus on in the next few years to be most competitive — faster, freer or more flexible?

Is CEO Brian Cornell planning to take Target in a more upscale direction? That’s one of the logical questions coming out of yesterday’s announcement that Target has hired Mark Tritton, a former Nordstrom executive, as its new chief merchandising officer after a nearly year-long search.

Best Buy has become one of the few major retailers to have women make up a majority of its c-suite. Do you agree with the premise that having more female leaders can significantly increase profitability for businesses?

Snapchat, the social networking app that enables users to send short photo or video messages that self-destruct after 10 seconds, is getting into the shoppable ad business, and Target is among the first to test the idea. What do you see as the potential for Snapchat as an advertising and e-commerce medium?

A Wall Street Journal article last week detailed how free shipping has become e-commerce’s loss leader. Worst affected, perhaps, are smaller e-commerce players that can’t absorb the shipping costs. Is the ability to absorb free shipping becoming an overwhelming competitive advantage for larger retailers?

There’s nothing new about Target’s sponsorship of the 2016 Billboard Latin Music Awards show. The big news is that Target has significantly increased its marketing budget intended to attract and retain Hispanic customers. How have changing demographics within Hispanic communities affected consumer marketing in recent years?

CVS and Target have something else in common. Back in June, the two companies announced that Target would sell its pharmacies to CVS. Now, CVS is following Target in making an investment in Curbside, a third-party service. How important is it that CVS help its pharmacy customers save time shopping?

Last year, Target made high-profile moves into the wellness space, both on the sales floor and in the break room. Now Target is making a wellness move that appears to be further carving out the healthy niche it sees itself filling. The chain is debuting a portion of the store called the “Connected Health” section. Could Target become a destination for health-related wireless devices and related services as they continue to grow in popularity?

With stories about traditional retail largely focused on store closings and bankruptcies, pop-ups seem to be getting much of retail’s positive press. And on the cost side, pop-up rents have generally been less expensive and avoid the risks of a long-term lease. Do you see pop-ups still being attractive to retailers and brands for testing, branding, driving traffic, etc. if retail rents stabilize?

Kohl’s is abandoning its recent in-store cafe concept and will be closing the two test locations in the next few weeks. Has a cup of coffee become a more important part of the shopping experience over the years? Do cafes and eateries not make sense for some stores and channels?

Says George Anderson, “They say that the first step in dealing with a problem is admitting to having one. Today, I must admit that I have a Target Cartwheel problem.” What do you see as the most important elements in driving consumer acceptance of the Target Cartwheel app? Will the addition of manufacturer digital coupons increase the number of Cartwheel users?

Target has a new designer line partnership. This time it comes in the form of swimwear and home décor items from the Finnish brand Marimekko. As in past deals, Target is expecting to sell out of the limited edition run quickly. Do you see Target’s limited edition designer collaborations coming back to bite the retailer?

Walmart has earned some praise in the mainstream press for democratizing organics, particularly from a price perspective. But Charles Redfield, Walmart’s EVP of its U.S. food division, said it still boils down to supply and demand. To what degree should organics expansion be driven by consumer demand versus pushed to support do-good ambitions?

In its collaboration with global design firm IDEO and MIT Media Lab, Target’s Food + Future coLab last week unveiled its first two innovations with a focus on food transparency. What other areas around food innovation should the Food + Future coLab work on?

Target has plans to fix its big out-of-stock problem, but its strategy is questionable, according to assortments expert Dr. Stephen Needel, including the assumption that carrying fewer items will help. Do you see assortment complexity as a major issue for Target?

In a move to address its on-going logistics concerns, Target is hiring Arthur Valdez, an Amazon.com executive, to run its supply chain, including distribution, planning and transportation. Where do you expect Mr. Valdez will concentrate his efforts when he joins Target next month?

Amazon’s recent success with its private label Amazon Elements line seems to have gotten the e-tailer thinking about where else it can go. Now Quartz reports that Amazon has rolled out its own line of fashion brands, under the radar. Do you expect Amazon’s private label clothing to catch on with consumers?

One day in the near future, you’ll walk into a Target store. The pharmacy’s logo will still be red, but it will have a heart and read CVS instead of the familiar bullseye. What will be the biggest challenges for CVS as it rebrands Target’s pharmacies?

Target is partnering with SoulCycle, the popular indoor cycling fitness chain, to offer free cycling workout classes as part of a 10-city tour. Do you think retailers will gain an advantage over competitors in sales for wellness products as a result of fitness program sponsorships?

Target isn’t just for suburban soccer moms anymore. According to CEO Brian Cornell, the retailer’s customers have “profoundly changed over the past couple of years.” That’s why he and other company executives are out on the road visiting shoppers. How much value can retail headquarters executives gain from speaking with customers in stores and by visiting them in their homes?

Earlier this week, Walmart announced it will be closing all of its 102 Express locations. Target, on the other hand, appears to be just getting started with the opening of smaller stores. Do you expect Target to fare any better with small stores than Walmart?

While reviews of CES 2016 were published last week by the score, a surprise one came from Target’s top brass, who all descended on Las Vegas “to share and discover more about the future of technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, robotics and more.” What do you think motivated Target’s review of CES?

It’s expected that when a new CEO comes into a company, particularly one that is struggling, that changes will be made within the executive ranks. In the case of Target, the changes made since assuming the top spot at the chain in 2014 appear to be on point. Do you think there is right or wrong way for new CEOs to go about reshaping their executive teams?

Among broadline chains, Target is expected to see further recovery this year, recapturing some of its cheap-chic reputation, according to a poll of RetailWire BrainTrust panelists exploring 2016 prospects. In the grocery space, Kroger, H-E-B and Aldi were highlighted as likely outperformers in 2016. Which grocers and broadline retailers do you expect to outperform their segment in 2016?

For the first time in over a decade, Target has brought back “Bullseye,” its mascot dog, to star in several television ads. Do you see more positives than negatives in Bullseye playing a signature role in Target’s marketing and branding?

This week’s competition puts Sears up against Target. Which spot will move on to join our previous week’s winners in next week’s finale of the 2015 RetailWire Christmas Commercial Challenge? Make your vote count.

Stephen Quinn is retiring next month as Walmart’s chief marketing officer, and Walmart announced it has hired Michael Francis, a former executive at Target who is widely credited with helping to develop Target’s cheap chic image, as a consultant to help revamp its marketing group. Is Walmart right to focus on attracting more middle-class and upper income shoppers?

Target has already shown that it’s aiming for big sales during the holiday season with its multi-platform, multi-property “Holiday Odyssey” advertising campaign. Further proof of its holiday season investment is the chain’s “retail spectacle” named Target Wonderland. What sort of insights might Target gain into its use of RFID technology in the Wonderland that are applicable on a national level?