A year after he took the reins leading Target’s food and beverage business, Rick Gomez shares his thoughts on affordability, inclusion and what sets Target apart from other stores.
It’s been a year since Rick Gomez was named chief food and beverage officer at Target Corp., the business that generates one-fifth of its sales.
The Minneapolis-based retailer spent most of the 2010s trying to refine its grocery selection. An expansion early in the decade put more grocery items in its aisles, but Target still had difficulty distinguishing itself against Walmart’s even greater scale and the niches that rivals like Trader Joe’s and Aldi were carving out.
In 2019, it launched a new food private label — or what Target calls owned brands — called Good & Gather and phased out two others, Archer Farms and Simply Balanced.
As the pandemic came along, Target’s grocery business is one reason it was allowed to stay open when other retailers were forced to close. The need for social distancing in the pandemic’s early days drove Target to quickly expand its drive-up and delivery capabilities.
