Target Corp

Discount retailer Target Corp. said Tuesday that it would cut 9% of its headquarters staff, close a distribution center and reduce planned store openings as it battled the weak economy. The staff cuts include 600 employees and 400 open positions, mostly in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota where Target is based. This year the company also plans to close its Little Rock, Ark., distribution center, which employs an additional 500 people.

The first quarter was a tough one for many retailers, so Target Corp.'s 18% profit growth took investors by surprise . Despite worries about rising gasoline prices and a cool, wet April keeping some shoppers away, the Minneapolis-based retailer managed what Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and jeweler Zale Corp. could not.

Target Corp., the second-largest U.S. discount store chain, lost a bid Tuesday to dismiss a lawsuit claiming the company's website wasn't accessible to the blind. U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel in San Francisco rejected Target's request to dismiss the case. She also certified the case as a class action, ruling that all legally blind people in the U.S. who have been denied access to services at Target stores because of deficiencies in the company's website can join the suit.

Target Corp., the No. 2 U.S. discount retailer, said Wednesday that it may sell its Mervyn's and Marshall Field's department store chains to concentrate on its faster-growing discount stores. The company's shares rose as much as 6% in after-hours trading. The announcement was made after the market closed. Minneapolis-based Target hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to review options for the businesses, Target spokeswoman Cathy Wright said. Mervyn's, based in Hayward, Calif.

Investors gave Target Corp. a hearty pat on the back Thursday, pushing its stock up 7% one day after the discount retailer said it might finally shed its weaker department store chains, including Mervyn's in California. Analysts said they had been waiting a decade for the Minneapolis-based purveyor of cheap chic to unload Mervyn's and the higher-end Marshall Field's chain. "I think this is one of the most stubborn managements in U.S.

Target Corp. announced plans Thursday to sell its Mervyn's stores to an investment group for $1.65 billion, shedding its second department store chain this year to focus on its namesake business. The deal completes a plan by the Minneapolis-based retailer to sell both the Mervyn's and Marshall Field's chains. Target agreed to sell Marshall Field's and nine Mervyn's stores last month to May Department Stores Co. for $3.24 billion.

Target Corp. said it would sell designer Isaac Mizrahi's line of women's sports clothing and accessories created exclusively for the company. Target Chief Executive Robert Ulrich is offering more designer items to differentiate the discount chain from larger rival Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which has lower prices. Shares of Minneapolis-based Target rose 28 cents to $28.51 on the NYSE.

Target Corp. was sued by Asics Corp. on Friday to stop the retailer from selling shoes that Asics claims bear a stripe design similar to those made by the Japanese sporting goods manufacturer. Asics, whose U.S. operations are headquartered in Irvine, filed its trademark infringement lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, said Michael Zall, Asics' vice president and general counsel. The complaint seeks unspecified damages and a court order barring the sale of Target's ProSpirit shoes.

Target Corp. is charging rival Kmart Corp. with false advertising, claiming in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that the prices in Kmart's "Dare to Compare" campaign are wrong 74% of the time. The Kmart promotion uses in-store signs to compare Kmart's prices on specific items with those of its competitors. In its complaint, Target said a market research firm it hired found numerous errors, including mistakes in reporting Kmart's own prices as well as listing comparisons for products Target doesn't sell.

Target Corp. will open a virtual store at Amazon.com Inc.'s Web site this fall to offer thousands of clothing, home, electronics and jewelry products. The companies also said Amazon will fill orders and provide customer service on Target's online sales sites, including Target.com, MarshallFields.com, Mervyns.com and GiftCatalog.com, beginning next summer. Target will continue to own the online properties. Under the five-year alliance, Amazon will receive per-unit fees and annual fixed fees.