Target begins partnering with unique specialty shops

NEW YORK – Target is teaming up with unique specialty shops to offer limited edition merchandise, from dog biscuits to platform shoes, as it tries to further distinguish itself from rivals.

The company also confirmed reports Thursday that it will test expanded displays of Apple products in 25 stores.

Target became a discount-store darling when it began offering stylish clothes and trendy decor under the same roof where shoppers could find toothpaste and cereal. Yet sales growth has been uneven with rivals copying its 12-year-old formula of partnering with designers. Target’s latest strategy ups the stakes.

“This puts Target at the frontier of what’s next in retail,” Brian Robinson, director of fashion and design partnership at Target, said in a presentation in New York. “With (these shops), we’re building on that sense of discovery by offering our guests a chance to experience one-of-kind specialty stores and boutiques through collections that have been specifically tailored to their wants and needs.”

Target will continue to seek out new partnerships with designers as it has in the past, Robinson said.

The initial group of specialty shops includes The Candy Store in San Francisco, which sells hard-to-find retro sweets as well as candy from abroad; The Privet House, a retailer that sells vintage furniture and home accessories in Warren, and Greenwich, Conn.; The Webster House, a designer clothing store in Miami; Polka Dog Bakery in Boston; and The Cos Bar, which sells body care products and cosmetics in Aspen.

Target will begin featuring the mini shops of boutique products on May 6. The shops will be open for six weeks, after which they will be closed and replaced with others in the fall.

Stocks close higher after oil drops below $100 per barrel

NEW YORK – A drop in oil prices and strong bond auctions in Europe drove stocks to a slightly higher close Thursday.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 21.57 points, or 0.2 percent, to end at 12,471.02 It was down most of the day, losing 64 points in the first hour of trading, after a spike in unemployment claims and a weak report on December retail sales.

Materials and industrial companies led the afternoon recovery. Caterpillar and Alcoa rose the most in the Dow. The S&P 500 finished up 3.02 points, or 0.2 percent, at 1,295.50. The Nasdaq composite rose 13.94 points, 0.5 percent, to 2,724.70

Stocks drove higher in the last hour and a half of trading after oil prices dropped below $100 per barrel for the first time this year. Oil fell on rumors that Europe will delay an embargo on Iran. Crude plunged $2 a barrel in just eight minutes, ending at $99.

— From news service reports