E*TRADE (Menlo Park, Calif.), the online personal financial services company that is branching out into bricks-and-mortar retail, has announced an agreement with Target Corp. (Minneapolis) to open 22 new E*TRADE Zones within SuperTarget stores. That will bring to 43 (in nine states) the number of financial service-center vendor shops in the Target empire.
E*TRADE Zone locations are approximately 400 square feet, with customer terminals and Financial Service Associate terminals which allow customers to open accounts and access stock quotes, personal watch lists, market updates, trading capabilities, portfolio reviews, and financial research, news and commentary. There will also be onsite assistance available. All Zones will be equipped with E*TRADE ATMs, allowing customers to conduct banking transactions with E*TRADE Bank (an affiliated but separate company). E*TRADE Zones also contain plasma screens and video monitors which play original E*TRADE content and cable financial news shows.
E*TRADE and Target also have a co-branded web site designed to educate customers about E*TRADE's financial tools and services and containing special offers for Target customers who open E*TRADE accounts.
E*TRADE will also become the exclusive provider of ATMs in Target and Target Greatland stores, and will install more than 1000 E*TRADE-branded units over the next two years.
E*TRADE recently opened E*TRADE Center, its flagship store in Manhattan, and has four additional E*TRADE Centers in the works, in San Francisco, Boston, Denver and Beverly Hills, Calif.