Retail giant Target has a LIVING, breathing, secret test store hidden amongst the streets of Minneapolis. Used as a Stage to map out what future stores might look like, the 100,000-square-foot test store allows team members to see how new digital signage truly looks next to their shelving units or how innovative aisle designs redistribute guests and shopping cart flow. Team members can also photograph displays and signage giving managers at their stores specific instructions on how to Stage them.Target can now use the test store as a rehearsal space to try out different customer Experiences, avoiding potential challenges before they ever occur on store floors across the country. 

Target’s guest Experiences have only elevated since the test store first opened. VP of Visual Merchandising, Erika De Salvatore, said, “We give the stores a ton of context. Where in the past they just got an instruction like, ‘Do it like this,’ now we tell them more of the why’s. We’re giving them some of the context behind the decisions that were made, so they then understand to say, ‘Oh okay, all right, now I get it.’ Or, ‘Now I should understand why I have to support it more.’”