Business Wars

Is your house team Target or team Walmart? Depending on where you live, or what you’re trying to buy, the answer might be one, or both. Even though these stores sell a lot of the same merchandise, shoppers have very different perceptions — and allegiances.

Here to explore the ‘target’ demographics of your favorite big box stores is Wall Street Journal reporter Sarah Nassauer, who has covered major retailers like Target and Walmart for nearly a decade. We’re strolling down the aisles to find out how each chain is doing today in this e-commerce world, and what the future holds.

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It’s 2013 and Target’s troubles are multiplying. The Minneapolis retailer’s big push into Canada is getting the cold shoulder and a gang of cybercriminals are about to bust open its network and stage a billion-dollar heist.

But while Target firefights, Walmart is focusing on a newer, more hi-tech foe: Amazon.

And as the war for shoppers moves from bricks to bytes, Target’s new CEO Brian Cornell needs to get the chain back on track fast, before it gets left behind.

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It’s early 2005 and Walmart’s reeling from a dismal holiday season. It hoped to improve its image by playing nice with rivals only to watch Target snatch away its shoppers.

So now it’s looking to hit back by muscling in on the cheap-chic action that’s sent Target’s growth soaring.

But Walmart’s about to find that winning over the fashion conscious is as much about brand as design.

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It’s the 1990s and Walmart’s replaced Kmart as America’s biggest retailer. 

But now that it’s on top, its business practices are under fire. And for Target, that’s an opportunity to paint itself as the friendly alternative to the Bentonville juggernaut.

But to really break through, Target knows it must stand apart from its bigger opponent. And it’s about to find what it needs in the design districts of New York City.

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It’s 1962 and a new retail trend’s catching fire – big-box discount stores that reinvent shopping with out-of-town locations, huge product ranges, and low, low prices.

And at opposite ends of the country, two hopefuls are jumping on the bandwagon. In Arkansas, five-and-dime owner Sam Walton’s opening his first Wal-Mart. In Minnesota, the upscale Dayton’s department store is readying a discount chain called Target.

But to survive in this new frontier of razor-thin margins, faster rivals and price-sensitive shoppers, they’ll both have to rip up the rulebook.

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What's old is new again. Second-hand shopping is taking off online and the big brands want a piece of the action. Meanwhile, fast-fashion companies are working to reinvent themselves in the eyes of Gen Z. To unzip these shifts in retail, we're joined by comedian Cat Alvarado and editor Kaarin Vembar. 

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It’s 2017, and after months of sky-high price rises, the crypto bubble is about to burst. But as scammers and investor panic crash the market, the Winklevoss twins’ nemesis Mark Zuckerberg is making moves. He’s planning a push into crypto designed to put Facebook at the center of global finance.

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It’s the mid-2010s and a new blockchain called Ethereum is shaking up crypto. It’s the creation of nineteen-year-old Vitalik Buterin, and it’s inspiring a flood of new digital coins and a gold rush for crypto. But as millions of investors buy crypto for the first time, Coinbase feels the strain.

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It’s 2015 and Coinbase is out to carve up the crypto scene with its new exchange. But it’s about to face strong headwinds in the form of state regulators, banks, and the Winklevoss twins’ new startup Gemini. And as Coinbase’s growth slows, CEO Brian Armstrong faces pressure to abandon crypto.

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It’s 2013 and bitcoin’s gaining traction at last. But just as crypto reaches for credibility, bitcoin is blindsided by high-profile arrests, corporate collapses and multi-million-dollar hacks. But as the leading lights of the bitcoin industry crash and burn, Coinbase senses a chance to cash in on the failures of others.

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