Target’s putting more weight behind its small business programs this year, kinda doubling down on helping new brands get off the ground inside big retail.
The U.S. retailer said its Target Takeoff and Forward Founders programs have now helped over 650 small businesses since they started. A bit of training, a bit of funding, and a lot of hands-on work — more than 2,000 hours in total, plus nearly $2 million handed out in stipends and small grants since 2021.
Takeoff began back in 2017. It’s made for new consumer goods brands that want to hit store shelves at Target. Around 150 companies have gone through the program so far — names like Blueland, Protein Pints, and Blanchard’s Coffee Co.
From this year’s group. Altogether, alumni brands have done about $66 million in combined sales. Nearly a quarter of this year’s batch already passed $1 million each, which says something about how solid the setup is.
Forward Founders came later, in 2021. It’s more for first-time or under-represented founders trying to figure out how retail really works. So far, they’ve helped 500-plus entrepreneurs through free consulting and mentoring — over 700 hours of one-on-one time from Target’s own people and partners. Feels like real help, not just a headline.
Now this is where it gets more local.
Target has recently been working closely with community groups. Since 2020, he has been working with RICE – a business hub in Atlanta that helps Black entrepreneurs get their ideas off the ground. Last year, Target said it would invest an additional $1.5 million over three years to keep it going.
Then you also get the Target foundation to do the trick. He supports DreamSpring – helping small shop owners find both money and information. In 2024 alone, over a thousand people received some form of help, from quick sessions to low-cost business loans.
Several names appear – Sola Foundation, Our Villages United, Sunshine Enterprises. They run all the bits – pop-ups, workshops, the ‘pitch forward’ thing where ninety thousand went into the prize money. You can see it’s more practical now, not just a PR box hacked off.
Target keeps saying it is not a donation. To be honest, it’s not like that. This is smart retail.
Small brands bring new spark, real stories and make the shelves feel alive again. Customers notice it. Feel like a human being.
Slowly, Target is proving that big retail can still do small. It’s just important to give someone else a real chance to get ahead.
