Naysayers may argue that Target’s heyday has come and gone, but there’s a new one arriving on June 9.
That’s when Heyday — the first Target-owned tech brand — hits its website and sales floors nationwide.
Like much of its general assortment, the private-label collection, comprised of headphones, Bluetooth speakers, cases, cords, chargers, and Apple Watch bands and bumpers, is cool, colorful and popularly priced, with retails peaking at $60.
Ostensibly targeted at young women, the mix-and-match Heyday line can be shopped by product category or by pattern and color. The latter include Pink & Gold; Iridescent; Black & White, a primitive art pattern; Floral; and solid pink, mauve, teal, olive, purple, maroon, rose, blue and gold.
Price points range from $7 for an Apple Watch bumper to $60 for a Discman-shaped, fabric-covered wireless speaker with stand. Other Bluetooth speaker configurations include a cylinder ($50), and a diminutive square ($30) and cube ($20), both with wrist loops.
“Tech is incredibly important to our younger guests,” Target shared in a corporate blog. “They want it to look good, perform and last. But finding trend-forward, high-quality pieces that don’t break the bank? Not so easy. Until now.”
According to chief marketing officer Rick Gomez, Heyday, along with two new in-house apparel brands, will allow the No. 2 discount chain to build relationships with a new generation of customers.
“Younger guests are looking for support to express their creativity and individuality, whether that’s what they wear or how they show up in the world,” he said. “Target can help them do just that by creating brands and experiences that reflect their interests, lives and voices.”
While Heyday is the first Target-owned tech brand, it’s not the first private-label CE badge to grace its shelves. The Liv line of CD players, radios, alarm clocks and universal remote, introduced in the early 2000s, was developed exclusively for Target by Sony, and represented the vendor’s first retailer-specific effort.
Like Heyday, the collection was aimed squarely at young females, who, as then senior audio buyer Rich Melton observed, were overlooked by a male-focused industry that tends to manufacture “big, bold pieces.”
See: Target Urges CE Vendors To See Red
Target also mounted a joint private-label CE program with architect Michael Graves (computer accessories), and developed a back-to-school collection with designer Todd Oldham that included laptop bags and a Lite-Brite-like removable peg lamp.
Target ranked sixth on TWICE’s 2018 Top 100 CE Retailers report, with $5.5 billion in tech sales last year, an increase of 4 percent.
