Preparedness & Response
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Teams across Target plan well in advance of disasters to ensure our stores and our communities have the supplies they need before and after a disaster hits. For example, we position merchandise in our distribution centers in advance of hurricane season.
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If a disaster is imminent, we can push the most critical supplies to our stores so that we can quickly prepare and respond.
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Target’s fully staffed, 24/7 Corporate Command Center (C3) monitors all Target locations to reduce business disruption and ensure the safety of our team members and guests. During a disaster or emergency, the C3 stays closely connected with teams in the field.
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Following the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010, more than 800 Target team members and 200 Minneapolis students assembled 205,000 meals to send to survivors. Target also donated $500,000 to the Red Cross International Relief Fund. This two-pronged strategy was designed to meet Haiti’s short- and long-term relief needs.
Prepared to Weather the Storm
Target’s comprehensive strategy for disaster preparedness and response is designed to keep our team members safe and to ensure affected stores are quickly up and running, providing vital food and supplies to the community. With more than 1,750 stores in 49 states, the weather often poses a threat to a community where we do business.
For example, in spring 2011, devastating storms swept across the southern United States, culminating in a series of tornadoes that impacted several of our stores in Alabama. Target’s 24/7 crisis command center was able to quickly account for all team members in the area, our first priority whenever a disaster hits. With confirmation that the team was safe, we were able to focus on the community. By providing generator power and expediting groceries to the affected stores, we quickly opened our stores fully in stock with critical supplies our guests needed.
Whether it’s a forecasted hurricane that means boarding up stores in advance or a severe snowstorm that requires early store closings to ensure team member safety, our preparedness and response plan enables us to act quickly, keep our team members safe, and support affected communities.
Target Pilots FEMA Partnership
Target has cultivated a strong partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) over the past several years to support disaster recovery efforts and improve communication between the public and private sectors.
In 2010, we worked with FEMA to develop a model to integrate private sector businesses into the National Response Coordination Center (NRCC). This led FEMA to create a new position for a private sector representative to work in the NRCC. Under the program, corporate executives in industries ranging from retail to energy spend three months at the NRCC and serve as a liaison to the business world, particularly during a disaster.
Last year, Target senior assets protection investigator, Katie Dempsey, became the first private sector representative to pilot the NRCC position. FEMA officials said they reached out to the retail industry first because it provides critical goods to residents during a disaster.
During Dempsey’s stint at FEMA, she leveraged the private sector’s combined disaster response capabilities during an emergency. In one case, she blasted emails to her contacts at retailers across the country as a major snowstorm prepared to strike the Midwest and Northeast. She wanted to know how many stores were closed in affected regions.
As responses trickled in, that information was compiled into a map under a test program that FEMA officials hope will eventually show the status of major retailers’ stores across the country. This is all in an effort to help communities recover and get back up and running as fast as possible.
Dempsey also shared other data with liaisons from other government agencies who sat next to her in the coordination center.
“You get up and literally walk over to their desk,” she said. “My position helps to open that two-way dialogue.”
“Retailers play a significant role, not only in response during a crisis, but in preparedness, so that communities can get back on their feet sooner rather than later.”
Lisa LaBruno Vice President of Loss Prevention and Legal Affairs at the Retail Industry Leaders Association, a trade group