Target Corp. was the hot topic at a Toronto shopping centre trade show Tuesday as representatives of the cheap-chic Wal-Mart rival held meetings with developers to discuss its store rollout plan for Canada, with an eye to opening up to 200 stores.

The second-largest mass merchant in the United States behind Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is looking to open six to 10 stores in late 2014 or 2015, said Fred Waks, chief operating officer with RioCan, the largest public real estate developer in Canada.

This is the first time representatives of the retailer have attended the trade show, and the biggest indication yet that the retailer will make Canada a key component of its international expansion strategy.

“We are exploring opportunities in Canada,” Amy Reilly, a Target spokeswoman, said Tuesday. “We are optimistic that our first stores could open by mid-decade.”

In June, the company confirmed that it was looking at Canada and other international development opportunities, but stopped short of saying it would open stores here.

Mr. Waks was one of several meetings Target executives took with real estate executives Tuesday morning, the first day of an International Council of Shopping Centres convention in Toronto.

“They wanted to discuss rollout plans — they are looking for an urban strategy and will roll out first in the Greater Toronto Area,” Mr. Waks said.

“From our perspective they are really going to change retail in Canada.” He said the retailer is looking to open “a couple of hundred units” over about a 10-year period. Ms. Reilly could not comment on future store opening details.

Minnesota-based Target, long sought out by Canadians shopping south of the border, has flourished in spite of Wal-Mart’s dominance in the U.S. market by making affordable product design and style as a key part of its retail strategy.

Like Wal-Mart, it sells low-priced mass market offerings as well as low-priced but fashionable items, and has partnered with fashion and industrial designers such as Philippe Starck, Stella McCartney, and Todd Oldham to sell exclusive lines at the chain. It has 1,743 stores in the U.S.

Target has offered more fresh food at its stores as part of a more recent consumer-focused service strategy which has also seen the behemoth pursue urban stores in the U.S. It opened its first retail outlet in Manhattan this year and is now building smaller-format urban stores between 60,000 and 100,000 square feet; a typical Target store is 125,000 to 180,000 square feet.

The news comes as Canadian retailers have been consistently outperforming their U.S. counterparts since the recession ended, and U.S. retailers without a presence in Canada have been taking notice.

TJX Cos., which operates Winners, Home Sense and three StyleSense footwear stores in this country, announced in July that it will open the first Canadian Marshalls stores in the spring of 2011, with a plan to ultimately open 90 to 100 stores in the Canadian market.

Projections for Canadian retail have also been improving — a report on Monday firm Colliers International projected retail sales will grow 5% in 2010 to $392-billion, after two years of flat to declining performance.

hshaw@nationalpost.com