Dive Brief:
- Target’s Pillowfort brand has partnered with Disney and Marvel on a collection of over 50 items, per a company news release.
- Created with Target’s in-house product design team, the collection includes hooded blankets, figural dolls and pillows, sheet sets, quilts and glow-in-the-dark comforters.
- Prices in the collection are mostly under $30, with sheet sets, quilts and comforters under $65, per the release. Products are up on the retailer’s website now and will be in the majority of Target’s stores nationwide in late April.
Dive Insight:
The collaboration marks the first time Disney characters and Marvel superheroes are being featured within Pillowfort’s bedding assortment, Target said.
“Target’s launch of Disney and Marvel collections is likely to resonate with shoppers, thanks to the items’ relatively modest price points and consumers’ growing openness to buying store brand products,” Zak Stambor, senior retail analyst at Emarketer, told Retail Dive. “Store brands are particularly popular among younger consumers, especially those aged 18 to 34, who are eager to save and fall squarely within the target audience.”
The Disney and Marvel Pillowfort assortment builds on Target’s past collaborations with Disney.
In 2019, Target opened its first 25 Disney shop-in-shops, which offer toys, games, apparel and accessories. Today there are over 200 such in-store shops. Target also collaborated with Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever;” and on a Disney100 Retro Reimagined collection.
“In this only-at-Target collection, we’re bringing the magic of Disney Princess characters and Marvel Super Heroes to kids’ bedding and decor in a totally Target way — delivering incredible design and quality products that parents can trust, at amazing prices they won’t find anywhere else,” Jill Sando, Target’s chief merchandising officer of apparel and accessories, said in a statement.
The Disney collaboration indicates Target is continuing to invest in its private labels. The mass merchant launched its Pillowfort brand in 2016. Target now has about 50 store brands across apparel, home goods, consumer products and food. Several individual labels do between $1 billion and $2 billion annually, per the company.
Target’s low-priced Dealworthy brand, launched in February last year, was one of the two fastest-growing private label brands in 2024, according to a report from Numerator.
Target has also experienced some financial bumps recently, as it missed Q3 expectations in November and lowered its guidance for the full fiscal year. A preview of fourth-quarter results, however, indicated that Target bounced back during the holidays as overall sales during November and December rose 2.8% year over year.