Targeting Latinos

Target, Dayton-Hudson’s discount store chain, recently launched Familia, a Spanish-language magazine mailed to 750,000 California homes.

Familia, a free quarterly, includes profiles and stories on subjects such as fashion, food, health and education, but it’s largely a pitch for Target.

The editorial copy is peppered with plugs for Target. For example, a feature titled “Su Casa”--”Your Home”--says that the chain offers a great variety of perfumed and decorative candles.

The publication also contains Target ads for such services as its Lullaby Club for infants and Club Wedd bridal registry. Some ads for national brands include the Target logo. And there are ads for many other products--disposable diapers and shampoo, for example--that can be found at Target.

The custom magazine--published by Menlo Park-based Sunset Publishing Corp., a unit of Time Warner--is part of the chain’s efforts to raise its profile in the Latino community, said Susan Eich, a Target spokeswoman.

Target already has an English-language publication designed for women shoppers--a national magazine called Target the Family. About 80% of Target shoppers are women.

Familia is designed primarily for Latinas and Target plans to expand outside California and mail the publication to other parts of the country with a large Latino population, Eich said. Sears, Roebuck & Co. has been reaching out to the Latino market with its own Spanish-language magazine--Nuestra Gente--for six years.

George White can be reached via e-mail at george.white@latimes.com.