Of course it aligns! What demographic are you referring to? Disney Parks has been primarily focusing on the middle to upper middle class guest with disposable income for the past few years now. Sure - they've been offering select experiences targeting a more upper class segment as well, but the lions share of their focus has been the upper half of the middle class segment. Target is THE store where that demographic shops the most. Taking it a step further, it's also the store where the celebrities do most of their necessity shopping. Beyonce, Britney, Michelle Obama, etc.. have all been photographed shopping there. No - it's not ultra high end, but when you're shopping for the basics, there isn't a high end alternative store that has what Target has.
I get what you're saying but honestly, I think they've been working at nipping away all but the very
top tier of the middle-class. Really, I think they just want enough of that to ensure they have the needed turnstile clicks when they can't get enough of the segment they're really after.
I mean, I know they know many DVC members do everything they can to save a buck since one of the selling points is the value proposition (not meant as an attack on DVC members - I think a lot of them are trying to be smart with their money) and that they go everywhere to get stuff for those kitchens and such but it always felt like they tried to pretend that wasn't happening.
This is all just my opinion, of course but Target, as nice as it is, is still a discount big-box retailer that, as much as they try to hide it with branding, is the direct competitor of Walmart, in this sense.
Kind of like how Kohls is a discount retailer pretending to be a higher-end department store that just so happens to have never ending sales and special offers to bring their prices down.*
Again, stronger presence of Disney in Target, Target not too far from Disney that's super-easy to get to, I get but a Target going into an area of Disney property branded as Disney property (if that's what this is) still surprises me.
A Whole Foods Market (even post Amazon) would not have shocked me nor wold any variety of other specialty retailers that are known for charging a premium and supporting a certain brand lifestyle that together, would collectively have provided what Target offers but a big box discount retailer on property just seems odd to me.
If they don't have oddly inflated prices to reflect the premium that is the Pure Disney Magic Soil™ it's built on, I'm happy to shop there myself when the need arises - always nice to pick up sunscreen at a reasonable price when we forget to bring our own instead of the insanity of Disney pricing - but frankly, I feel like I'm part of the audience they're slowly trying to replace in WDW so this surprises me.
*Not to dis (no pun intended) Kohls - shop there plenty.
