Target (TGT) is one of the oldest and most iconic brands in American retail, but shares in the national discount chain have been a bad buy-and-hold bet for ages.
The big-box chain that came to define the concept of "cheap chic" traces its roots to a single family-owned department store in the early days of the 20th century. Six decades later, a rapidly expanding middle class in the midst of the baby boom drove consumer demand for one-stop shopping at value prices. It's no coincidence that Target shifted to a discount format at the same time that Walmart (WMT) and K-Mart entered the market.
