Coming Soon to Center City: Tiny Target Stores?

I may as well admit it right up front: I freakin’ love Target. I love shopping there and I love wandering the aisles. I love the big red shopping carts, the Dollar Spot, the food court pretzels, and the generic brands. My first job was even at Target – back in high school I worked a stint as the fitting room attendant, hanging up clothes and answering the store’s main phone.

I’m not the only one who is crazy about the Bulls-eye either. Target is a mecca for much of America, a big box of great deals, cheerful signage, and helpful employees. But for folks who live in urban settings, the closest Target is often a long distance away – a real challenge for those accustomed to public transportation and life without a car. Target is, by nature, set up for a suburban environment with its sprawling stores and big parking lots. Center City is one of those Target-less outposts. Plans to open a full-sized Target within the downtown corridor have always fizzled. There could soon be an alternative, however.

Target Express stores are compact and designed to fit within an urban environment.

Word in the news is that Target Express could soon be coming to Center City and University City with as many as four compact, convenient stores aimed at urban dwellers. One-sixth the size of a typical, 120,000 – 140,000 square foot Target store, these Express stores would carry a “curated assortment” (as per Target marketing materials) of smaller items that are normally sold in the big stores. The stores would also offer fresh food and a “grab and go” selection of meals.

Target has tested the Express format in Minnesota, and plans on opening at least five other stores in 2015, including three in San Francisco alone.

If suitable space can be found, Target Express is looking like an idea that could realistically come to fruition. Center City landlords are keen to get their hands on such a lucrative addition to the cityscape, and Target really wants in. Residents will only benefit from more competition for the chain drugstores that currently make up much of the downtown retail landscape.