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Talk With Holiday Shoppers
Aired November 15, 2002 - 14:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: One of America's biggest retailers hopes that its newest location will float the boats of holiday shoppers.
CNN's Greg Clarkin is standing by live in New York City at the Store by the Shore.
Ahoy there -- Greg.
GREG CLARKIN, CNN REPORTER: Ahoy there, Marty, very nice. We are here on the Hudson River, believe it or not, on the west side, the far west side of Manhattan. This is where Target has set up what is being called a holiday shopping boat.
Now, really, for Target, this is an effort, basically, to kind of build awareness in the Manhattan market. The company does have three stores around the New York metropolitan area, but they're in the outer burrows; two are in Queens, one in Brooklyn. So this is the first presence in Manhattan. It'll be here for two weeks, giving shoppers an opportunity to come and take some of the Target or get the Target experience.
Really, what it means for the company, not a whole lot, according to retail analysts. They say, listen, this is a company with 1,100 stores nationwide. One relatively small store is not going to cost them a lot. It's not going to mean a big thing to their bottom line.
But really, what it comes down to is a very nice publicity stunt, according to lot of folks. There's a lot of media here covering this -- obviously, we're here -- and they've got a lot of attention and it's brought in a fair amount of customers.
That said, let's go inside here, take a look at the store. Bear in mind, this is only a 200-foot long ship, so it's a much, much smaller shopping experience than you would find in a normal target. There are, roughly, 50,000 to 60,000 items in a regular-size target. This boat has, or store, if you will, this boat has about 92 items. And what you can see behind me here is kind of a sampling of these. They run through various categories, whether it's consumer electronics housewares, clothing, and the like.
And I have to tell you, the gates here opened at about noon, New York time. There was about 100, 150 people cued up, came rushing in here. So there was a nice lunchtime rush, an initial wave of folks. It's thinned out a bit since then. But still a lot of folks kind of trickling in, looking around at some of the items. And among those shoppers we find are John and Dawn. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi.
CLARKIN: Good afternoon, folks. Let me ask you about the experience of shopping on a boat. What do you think of it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fabulous.
CLARKIN: Fabulous. Is it more of a zeal to come over and get some holiday gift items or is it just the curiosity factor that got you over here today?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, Dawn is a lover of Target and I thought this was such a fabulous marketing idea, I just couldn't miss the opportunity. We drove all the way down here from Connecticut, just to come down and see it. And so far, it's absolutely fantastic. The only problem is my knees are shaking. I'm a little rocky, I'm getting sea sick.
CLARKIN: So -- and that is a danger of shopping on a boat. I don't know if anybody thought of that. Dawn, let me ask you, we've got a lot of pundits out there, trying to read the tea leaves. Are consumers going to spend more this holiday season, less than last year or more of the same amount? Where do you guys fall into that? You think you'll be spending more or less?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I pick the middle, about the same?
CLARKIN: About the same? That's probably encouraging to a lot of retailers. Guys, thanks very much and good luck with your holiday shopping.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: By the way, this is fabulous.
CLARKIN: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every detail.
CLARKIN: There you have it, Marty. I tell you, it's interesting, a lot of folks you run into, Target does has a tremendous brand recognition here in Manhattan, where there's stores. As you heard, these folks driving down from Connecticut to experience this.
Back to you.
SAVIDGE: Very interesting, Greg. Thanks very much. Dramamine is on aisle 12, by the way, just so you know.
CLARKIN: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 15, 2002 - 14:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: One of America's biggest retailers hopes that its newest location will float the boats of holiday shoppers.
CNN's Greg Clarkin is standing by live in New York City at the Store by the Shore.
Ahoy there -- Greg.
GREG CLARKIN, CNN REPORTER: Ahoy there, Marty, very nice. We are here on the Hudson River, believe it or not, on the west side, the far west side of Manhattan. This is where Target has set up what is being called a holiday shopping boat.
Now, really, for Target, this is an effort, basically, to kind of build awareness in the Manhattan market. The company does have three stores around the New York metropolitan area, but they're in the outer burrows; two are in Queens, one in Brooklyn. So this is the first presence in Manhattan. It'll be here for two weeks, giving shoppers an opportunity to come and take some of the Target or get the Target experience.
Really, what it means for the company, not a whole lot, according to retail analysts. They say, listen, this is a company with 1,100 stores nationwide. One relatively small store is not going to cost them a lot. It's not going to mean a big thing to their bottom line.
But really, what it comes down to is a very nice publicity stunt, according to lot of folks. There's a lot of media here covering this -- obviously, we're here -- and they've got a lot of attention and it's brought in a fair amount of customers.
That said, let's go inside here, take a look at the store. Bear in mind, this is only a 200-foot long ship, so it's a much, much smaller shopping experience than you would find in a normal target. There are, roughly, 50,000 to 60,000 items in a regular-size target. This boat has, or store, if you will, this boat has about 92 items. And what you can see behind me here is kind of a sampling of these. They run through various categories, whether it's consumer electronics housewares, clothing, and the like.
And I have to tell you, the gates here opened at about noon, New York time. There was about 100, 150 people cued up, came rushing in here. So there was a nice lunchtime rush, an initial wave of folks. It's thinned out a bit since then. But still a lot of folks kind of trickling in, looking around at some of the items. And among those shoppers we find are John and Dawn. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi.
CLARKIN: Good afternoon, folks. Let me ask you about the experience of shopping on a boat. What do you think of it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fabulous.
CLARKIN: Fabulous. Is it more of a zeal to come over and get some holiday gift items or is it just the curiosity factor that got you over here today?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, Dawn is a lover of Target and I thought this was such a fabulous marketing idea, I just couldn't miss the opportunity. We drove all the way down here from Connecticut, just to come down and see it. And so far, it's absolutely fantastic. The only problem is my knees are shaking. I'm a little rocky, I'm getting sea sick.
CLARKIN: So -- and that is a danger of shopping on a boat. I don't know if anybody thought of that. Dawn, let me ask you, we've got a lot of pundits out there, trying to read the tea leaves. Are consumers going to spend more this holiday season, less than last year or more of the same amount? Where do you guys fall into that? You think you'll be spending more or less?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I pick the middle, about the same?
CLARKIN: About the same? That's probably encouraging to a lot of retailers. Guys, thanks very much and good luck with your holiday shopping.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: By the way, this is fabulous.
CLARKIN: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every detail.
CLARKIN: There you have it, Marty. I tell you, it's interesting, a lot of folks you run into, Target does has a tremendous brand recognition here in Manhattan, where there's stores. As you heard, these folks driving down from Connecticut to experience this.
Back to you.
SAVIDGE: Very interesting, Greg. Thanks very much. Dramamine is on aisle 12, by the way, just so you know.
CLARKIN: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
