How Target Is Evolving Its Beer Set

MINNEAPOLIS -- It's been more than a year since Target Corp. brought in its first-ever regional beer buyer. Dan Connell was brought on to expand the discount chain's beer set by latching onto trends such as craft beers and ciders.

Local beer preferences were tapped and beer sets were reinvented, highlighting the new beers and even adding the chain's first beer cave in Denver this past spring.

“The tricky part is, every city, town and market is fiercely loyal to its own set of local and craft labels, so across the map, our assortments have to look very different,” Connell said in a recent blog post.

But the results are worth it, he said. In some areas, craft-beer sales are up 40%.

Here are a few pieces of regional beer wisdom Dan’s picked up along the way, according to the Target blog ...

“In Richmond, Va., which is home to one of the hottest craft brew scenes in the country, a little Blue Ridge Mountain brewery called Devil’s Backbone is Target’s top seller, outselling the biggest brands in the business,” he said. 

“In Illinois, craft beer sales are up 40% from last year in Target stores with brands like Revolution, Two Brothers and Goose Island leading the way.”

“In Target’s home state of Minnesota, craft beer is a $750 million industry, and the number of breweries has more than doubled in the last four years," Connell said. "We use our Target liquor stores in Minnesota like test labs, and the extra test space in those formats is helping us push boundaries on craft beer and cider a lot farther.” Among the local favorites are Summit and Schell's.

Over the past year alone, Target has grown its local craft-beer portfolio from 100 brands to more than 300, all chosen based on its local guests’ tastes and feedback, according to the blog. For the brewers, selling beer at Target gives a small business a big opportunity to grow, expanding their reach beyond taprooms and specialty stores to thousands of guests who aren’t afraid to take a sip of something new.