Friday, May 25, 2007
Zachary Lewis
Plain Dealer Reporter

Target shareholders held their annual meeting Thursday in a new store on Cleveland's West Side. But picketing outside by local and national anti-PVC groups offered some drama, in contrast to the carefully managed presentation indoors.

Roughly two dozen shareholders, many from Northeast Ohio, convened at a new, 126,000- square-foot Target store on West 117th Street at Interstate 90 to hear a brief address by Bob Ulrich, Target's chief executive, and to ask questions of a panel of executives. The store is scheduled to open July 29. Investors elsewhere were able to view the meeting over the Internet.

In prepared comments, Ulrich praised Target's performance, citing 13.1 percent growth in 2006 revenue.

Ulrich cited net income of $651 million, or 75 cents a share, on sales of $14.04 billion in the last quarter.

He also said Target plans to open 100 stores next year, boost its supply of flat-screen televisions and explore using radio frequency identification tags in its stock rooms.

In comments before the meeting, Target spokeswoman Carolyn Brookter said new stores on West 117th Street and in Cleveland's Steelyard Commons plaza reflect Target's new interest in urban markets. "We know some of our demographics are in these urban areas," she said.

But the pickets made their voices heard, too.

Members of the Sierra Club, Learning Disabilities Association, Center for Health, Environment & Justice, and Ohio Citizen Action gathered on the sidewalk to criticize Target's sale of products containing polyvinyl chloride. PVC is a plastic commonly found in shower curtains, packaging, electronics and baby products, but its also is thought to be harmful. Standing in the hot sun, they donned white overalls similar to hazardous-material suits and carried signs reading "Target: Phase Out PVC, The Poison Plastic."

Some of the activists gained seats inside the meeting and repeated their demands to hear Target's stance on PVC.

Ulrich answered two of them. "Target will make as much progress in this area as other retailers," he said, adding later, "We think we're working as hard as other people."

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