khee mao: My thoughts on why an exclusive partnership w/ CC is not in the cards here, from a previous post (w/ slight ammendment and a little extra)...
"I think Target (if talks are taking place) and AAFES (if it'll happen) are in no way "tied" to the CC deal. CC could become a 19.9% (or 9.9%) equity partner and then let GnF run their business as they see to be the most profitable for them because at that point, what's profitable for GnF is profitable for CC...subs through CC route or not. Now, maybe at that point, CC would like a seat on the GnF board, but that's OK. Again, the point here is to make money for GnF because that would make money for CC, so there's no reason why they wouldn't want them to go for any and all they can handle."