Target giving Amazon healthy competition this holiday season

While Target still lags behind Amazon in many areas online, a data firm said the Minneapolis-based retailer has surpassed the online juggernaut in at least one way: online sales growth during the week of Black Friday.

Slice Intelligence, which mines e-receipts for data on online sales, has proclaimed Target as one of the big winners online of the Black Friday week starting from the Tuesday before Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday.

The firm said Target's online sales grew an "astonishing" 44 percent compared to the same shopping period last year, outpacing that of Amazon. Other retailers that also posted big online sales growth during that time frame included Richfield-based Best Buy, Apple, Walmart, and, yes, Amazon, at between 19 and 25 percent.

Of course, Amazon's online sales still eclipse those of other retailers.

"In terms of volume, no one can touch Amazon, whose sales were nearly [four times]those of its closest Cyber Week competitor, Best Buy," Slice Intelligence wrote in a blog post.

The data reflects the investments Target has been making to improve its website over the last couple of years. The retailer has been playing catch-up to others with online sales still making up less than 5 percent of its overall sales compared to Best Buy, where online sales make up about 13 percent of its U.S. sales.

Slice Intelligence said that overall online sales grew 18 percent during the week of Black Friday through Cyber Monday, fueled in part by 14 percent more shoppers making purchases online than last year. It also noted that Black Friday is becoming a more popular day for online sales with sales up 18 percent that day compared to 11 percent on Cyber Monday.

Fast Company asked leaders at Target, Warby Parker, Mall of America and electronics retailer B8ta which stores "get retail right."

The most common answer in the Nov. 24 article? Minneapolis men's and home retailer Martin Patrick 3.

MP3 co-owner Greg Walsh said he hears raves from customers, vendors and other retailers, but major trade publications such as GQ and Esquire have so far ignored the North Loop luxury retailer. Askov Finlayson, the North Loop menswear store owned by Eric and Andrew Dayton, and Hubert White, the 101-year-old men's retailer in IDS Center, have both been mentioned by one or both publications.

Walsh hardly has time to notice the oversight. His store, which he co-owns with his "partner partner" Dana Swindler, continues to enjoy phenomenal sales year over year.

The number of people visiting stores nationally on Thanksgiving and Black Friday fell 4 percent this year, according to RetailNext Inc.

That's on track with growth of 30 to 40 percent for each of the last five years at MP3.

Luxury retailers have had an uphill climb in the Twin Cities. Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale's have all closed in the Twin Cities. Nordstrom has opened two stores, though.

Fast Company calls MP3 "a store mostly for the 1 percent," but Walsh said the store will always stock good, better and best lines. "We bring in what customers are requesting."

Early next year, MP3 will open its last expansion, a 4,000-square-foot space, its fourth since 2010. After that, the 131-year-old building at 212 3rd Av. N. in Minneapolis has no more leasable space.

Walsh and Swindler have no plans for a second store. They prefer tweaking the original.

JOHN EWOLDT

Kavita Kumar • 612-673-4113