Target, Inc.

MINNEAPOLIS - Target, through its Take Charge of Education school fund-raising program, has awarded $13 million to schools across the country. The donation was the company's second check donation this year.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Wal-Mart's shoppers, which now include half of all U.S. primary household shoppers, are a varied bunch -- but its supercenter shoppers are the most loyal, according to a new report from Retail Forward, a consultancy based here.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. - In response to weaker-than-expected August sales for retailers, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. cut back its financial forecasts.

MINNEAPOLIS - Target Corp. completed the sale of its Mervyn's department store division -- a promotional, middle-market department store with 257 stores in 13 states primarily in the West and South -- to an investment consortium, as well as the divesture of Mervyn's $475 million credit card receivables to GE Consumer Finance.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Labor said last week it had reached a $1.9 million agreement with Global Building Services, which supplies janitors for Target Corp., after finding that the contractor had not paid overtime to hundreds of immigrant workers who often worked seven nights a week.

NEW YORK - Minneapolis-based Target Corp. is setting its sights on an overseas acquisition, possibly in the United Kingdom, according to several reports in the British press. The chain is rumored to be considering supermarket chain J Sainsbury, among others, as a target, although retail analysts told Progressive Grocer they question the likelihood that the mass merchant would make such a move in the ultracompetitive U.K. retail market.

WAYNE, N.J. - Toys 'R' Us, Inc., struggling with competition from Wal-Mart and other discounters, said yesterday that it's considering selling its toy retailing to focus on its better-performing Babies 'R' Us unit.

MARKHAM, Ontario - Meijer is enhancing its customers' shopping experience in three of its new stores with the help of mobile point of sales systems, provided by Markham, Ontario-based PowerCart.