Apple Watch Coming to Target Stores

As more new smartwatches flood the market, Apple is stepping up its game by adding one of the nation’s top discount chains to the short list of places where you can buy an Apple Watch. Starting this week, the smartwatch will be available at select Target stores with all 1,800 locations coming on board by October 25. The Apple Watch will also go on sale at Target.com beginning on October 18.

According to the Target website, the chain will stock 20 models of the Apple Watch in both 38mm and 42mm sizes with prices ranging from $349 to $599. The site mentions the Apple Watch Sport and the Apple Watch but not the pricier Edition models that start at $10,000.

Target is offering one perk that might persuade thrifty customers to buy their Apple Watch from one of their stores rather than a competitor: REDcard holders will get five percent off their purchase of an Apple Watch or practically anything else in the stores. Five percent isn’t much but it adds up when you’re buying an item priced at several hundred dollars.

This move is not surprising for several reasons. As much as Apple has tried to market the Apple Watch as a luxury item, the least expensive models account for the majority of sales so far. If the tech giant is going to make the most of the upcoming holiday season, it needs to get those styles into more stores over the next month or so. Of the several discount chains, Target is the obvious choice as the first to carry the Apple Watch because of its more upscale and fashion forward image.

With the Apple Watch available in Best Buy and Target stores, which chains will be next? Walmart and Sam’s Club look very likely, more so than Sears/Kmart or Kohl’s. It will be interesting to see whether the discount chains are allowed to give a free gift card to sweeten the deal with the purchase of an Apple Watch.