Apple Shops Are Popping Up in Target Stores

Target is pairing up with the creator of iPad and iPhones to bring specialty services to its select Target Circle members. Free Apple Fitness+? Yes, please.

iPhone 14 models on display at the Fifth Avenue Apple Store
(Image credit: Getty Images)

 

After a rough year trying to offload overstocks and returns, Target is doubling down on its relationship with Apple hoping to revive in-store sales with Apple popup shops and reward customers who are members of Target Circle, its free customer loyalty program, with exclusive deals on Apple products and services. While the pop-up stores are, obviously, a brick-and-mortar option, these Apple products and discounts are also available at Target.com and via the Target app.

Apple shop-within-a-shop stores have popped up in more than 150 Target stores, enhancing an already firm relationship the two retailers enjoyed. That number is more than three times the number of previous Apple stores inside a Target store. The first Apple shop-in-shop at Target opened in February 2021, during the pandemic.

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In addition to these offers on Apple products – Apple watches, Airpods, iPads and the new iPhone 14, for example – shoppers who are Target Circle members get targeted offers from Apple services. Those offers include Apple Arcade, Apple Music, Apple News+ and iCloud+, free deals that could run as long as five months.

Target Circle members also have a four-month free trial of Apple Fitness+, which represents a bonus month. (Apple usually offers Apple Fitness+ as a three month freebie and charges $9.99 a month after the free trial). No purchase is necessary for the Target promotion. Apple Fitness+ offers more than 3,000 workouts and meditations, with new ones added weekly. Workouts range from 5 minutes to 45 minutes, led by trainers.

“For years, Target has been a destination for Apple products. Now we are excited to deepen our collaboration with Apple so even more guests can access the exceptional Apple at Target shop-in-shop experience,” said Jill Sando, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer, Target. “Guests love the branded and immersive retail experiences we’re creating with Apple and other partners including Disney, Ulta Beauty and Levi’s.”

Target isn’t not alone among traditional bricks and mortar retailers in firming key relationships with name-brand suppliers. Kohl’s is doing it with high-end beauty supplier Sephora, as well as offering Amazon return services in stores.

Bob Niedt
Contributor

Bob was Senior Editor at Kiplinger.com for seven years and is now a contributor to the website. He has more than 40 years of experience in online, print and visual journalism. Bob has worked as an award-winning writer and editor in the Washington, D.C., market as well as at news organizations in New York, Michigan and California. Bob joined Kiplinger in 2016, bringing a wealth of expertise covering retail, entertainment, and money-saving trends and topics. He was one of the first journalists at a daily news organization to aggressively cover retail as a specialty and has been lauded in the retail industry for his expertise. Bob has also been an adjunct and associate professor of print, online and visual journalism at Syracuse University and Ithaca College. He has a master’s degree from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and a bachelor’s degree in communications and theater from Hope College.