E*Trade to Target its Customers

E*Trade Group Inc. (Menlo Park, Calif.), the country's Number Two Internet brokerage, has agreed to install 20 400-square-foot E*Trade shops into Target stores nationwide.

E*Trade, which currently has ATMs in 110 Target stores, will also add more than 1000 ATMs. Now, E*Trade will be the exclusive ATM network for all Target and Target Greatland stores in the United States. The deal is part of E*Trade's plan to diversify away from strictly online brokerage operations. The company already pulls in almost 30 percent of its net revenues from bank loans and lending to people who invest on margin.

The E*Trade shops — to be called “E*Trade Zones” – are 400-square-foot facilities within SuperTarget stores, staffed with sales and service representatives. E*Trade and Target launched a pilot program for the stores in September, in Roswell, Ga.

E*Trade, which also owns E*Trade Bank, last week opened a 30,000-square-foot E*Trade “financial services supermarket” Center in New York, at which people can make trades through their accounts, attend financial seminars and buy E*Trade gear. Online brokerage revenues have been dropping along with the stock markets. In the first quarter, E*Trade's revenue from processing trades fell 48 percent.