Online brokerage E*Trade Group Inc. plans to open 22 more E*Trade Zones inside SuperTarget stores, bringing the total to 43 in nine states.
The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company said that it already has opened six of the integrated financial services centers in discount stores in Alabama, Colorado, Georgia and Texas.
E*Trade’s initial deal with Target Corp. signed in 2000 and established a co-branded Web site, aimed at promoting E*Trade to Target and Target.com customers. Last January, E*Trade and Target Corp. inked a deal to roll out branded the initial financial service centers in SuperTarget stores nationwide.
Target Stores has been moving decisively to take its business into cyberspace. Minneapolis-based Target which operates about 1,000 discount stores across the United States and competes with Kmart and Wal-Mart, signed a partner deal with Amazon.com earlier this month.
E*Trade has been carrying out a plan “to expand its physical touchpoint strategy,” offering its customers and Target guests greater convenience and expanded access to a wider range of financial services through both physical and virtual channels. Financial terms of the agreement today were not disclosed.
“A key component of E*Trade’s successful growth and customer loyalty is our ability to offer greater choice and control by delivering a diversified financial services solution through expanding access channels,” said Jerry Gramaglia, E*Trade president and chief operating officer.
E*Trade’s physical presence platform includes E*Trade Center, its flagship financial services store in Manhattan, and four additional branded centers in San Francisco, Beverly Hills, Boston and Denver. This physical touchpoint strategy also includes the company’s network of more than 10,000 E*Trade ATMs, the third largest network nationwide.
