Dive Brief:
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“Dance cardio” workout trainer/Gwyneth Paltrow pal (and business partner) Tracy Anderson is collaborating with Target to sell Anderson’s protein shake mixes and protein bars starting this week, according to the website Well+Good.
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The bars and mixes will be offered at a discount through Target, compared to the prices on Anderson’s own website.
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In January indoor cycling chain SoulCycle and Target teamed on an apparel line and a three-day pop-up “SoulCycle experience” tour that included free classes in 10 cities nationwide.
Dive Insight:
Although Target sold its pharmacy and health clinic business to CVS Health in 2015, the retailer is nevertheless beefing up its wellness and sustainability efforts in order to bring out the kind of differentiated merchandise that it hopes will get shoppers into its stores and onto its website.
Last year Target took steps to ensure that its beauty, baby care, personal care and cleaning products are safe by broadening its list of problematic chemicals to nearly 600 substances prohibited in Canada (including coal tars and bisphenol A) as well as triclosan, an anti-bacterial ingredient that was banned in Minnesota, Target's home state, and is under review by the Federal Drug Administration.
Earlier this year Target also refined its “Made to Matter” list of sustainable merchandise, using a stricter set of requirements designed to guarantee that all products within the assortment are healthier for both people and the environment.
Target may not win universal acclaim for partnering with Tracy Anderson: Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop site, which includes plenty of digital ink on Anderson, also invites plenty of scorn, and some trainers quibble with just how healthy Anderson’s training methods and diet recommendations are. But the move, like the earlier collaboration with SoulCycle, is likely to garner Target the kind of attention that it’s seeking from fitness-minded consumers eager to get a deal on Anderson’s normally more expensive products.
“I am thrilled to finally have bar and shake meal replacements on the big box retail shelf,” Anderson told Well+Good. “We all lead busy lives and we need support to be all that we can be. While I completely believe in living a life full of whole foods, I also believe that we need healthier, easily accessible and controlled options to lose and maintain weight.”