Bullseye! Michael Graves does Target

ATLANTA (CNN) -- When architect and designer Michael Graves visited a Target store in New Jersey recently, he expected to check out his new housewares collection. Only he couldn't find much of it.

"It really warmed my heart," Graves said.

The collection offers practical, whimsical designs in a range of prices that match the pocketbooks and tastes of the new, hip Target customers. The same crowd that calls the store "Tar-zhay" also may have stayed at Graves' Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotels, without even noting the similar design themes.

In fact, it was his reputation as a postmodern architect that sparked the Target-Graves collaboration. When the chain and its vendors decided to help fund the restoration of the Washington Monument, they recruited the Princeton University professor to design its scaffolding.

Ron Johnson, vice president of general merchandise for Target, says during one of their conversations, Graves commented that good design doesn't have to be expensive. That gave Johnson an idea.

Graves

Over lunch one day, Graves said Johnson told him, "We've been knocking you off for years. Why don't we come to the source?" Afterward, they toured a Target store, where Graves put yellow stickers on the products he thought he could improve. He says Johnson wasn't sure he would have enough stickers. Ultimately, they committed to 350 original items, the first 150 of which went on sale last month. Target plans to add the rest later this year.

At the low end is a $13 wooden picture frame with a three-legged cast iron base, inspired by an ancient Pompeiian artifact. Or a $40 toaster big enough to hold two slices of Texas toast. On the high end, there's the Indonesian hardwood patio set, with umbrella, for $580. And of course there's Graves' trademark modern tea kettle, with a red coach's whistle for $35.

Despite his line of household items, Graves himself is not quite a household name -- certainly not on the scale of Martha Stewart, who lends her name to a line produced for rival Kmart. That doesn't bother Johnson. He said Target wasn't interested in celebrity marketing, but rather in talent. "We were confident Graves' great design would stand on its own," he said.

Graves designed the scaffolding for the Washington monument restoration.

Graves saw proof of this during his recent visit to Target. A mother-daughter duo stood next to him, oblivious to his role in creating the display in front of them. He recounted, "The daughter said, 'Look at these things -- these are terrific.' The mother agreed, 'These are really cool things. I'd buy a tea kettle if they had one.'"

"Most Target shoppers wouldn't know Graves if they fell over him," said Wendy Liebmann, president of WSL Strategic Retail, an independent consulting firm based in New York.

Recruiting Graves, she says, "speaks more to Target's value in the business community. It says more to the mavens on Wall Street."

Hiring Graves fits into Target's business strategy of creating innovative, authentic products. Liebmann said the company has been able to separate itself from other discount merchandisers, such as Walmart and Kmart, by making home and fashion trends affordable and timely. She credited Target's "strong cadre of designers" for being able to create fashionable private label items that are attractive to thrifty shoppers. "Shopping at Target has become a badge of honor," according to Liebmann.

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Not to mention a cool trend. Camryn Manheim, who stars in the television series "The Practice," sported fabulously fake sparkly earrings at the Golden Globe ceremonies from -- as she put it -- her "favorite store, Target." College guys head there to outfit their dorm rooms in an efficient fit of one-stop shopping. Professional women have been known to hit Target on a weekend and emerge with five or more pairs of inexpensive, knock-off-design shoes. Young engaged couples register for "Club Wedd."

"They give you a zapper that you point at the merchandise and it automatically keeps track of the items you want," said one 20-something who shops in Atlanta, Georgia. "It's like an addiction."

However, while many customers give rave reviews to the product selection, they also note that a certain cross-section of Target items don't last a long time. Still, those same people admit they are aware of that before making their purchase and still come back for more.

For his part, Graves says he doesn't hold back on design, just because Target is a discount chain. "Design has nothing to do with economic class. If I were designing for Cartier or Tiffany, I would expend the same energy."