Target Is Opening Hundreds Of New Stores -- Including In Some Familiar Spots

Several of Target's new store openings are in Big Box spaces formerly occupied by Walmart, Sears and even regional grocery store operators

Target likes to point out that it operates a store within 10 miles of most Americans.

But it is not done adding new stores and plans to open ~300 more over the next decade.

As Target leans into its stores-as-a-hub strategy — stores fulfill ~98% of its total sales including e-commerce orders — it is experimenting with different types of real estate, store formats and markets.

So while many future Target store openings will be its conventional large format store developed new from the ground up, others will involve the adaptive reuse of second generation space including:

▪️ Repurposes of Big Box space once occupied by competitors

▪️ Backfills of department stores and

▪️ Conversions of former grocery stores, particularly in land scarce and hard-to-enter markets

Repurposes of Big Box Space Vacated By Competitors

Walmart closed a pair of its Connecticut Supercenters in 2023 due to what it cited as “underperformance.”

But Target does not appear to have any qualms about locating at these former Walmart sites in Norwalk and Guilford, CT.

Target opened at the former Norwalk Walmart in September and is now converting the shuttered Walmart in Guilford into one of its large format stores.

Target had to wait out the expiration of a Sam’s Club lease at the warehouse club’s former site in San Fernando, CA.

But Target then renovated the ~103,000 square foot former Sam’s Club building and opened a new store earlier this year.

Target also recently opened in a former Kmart building in West Bradenton, FL and is in the process of repurposing a former Kmart in West Chester, PA.

Additionally, Target recently announced that it will be leasing the Bridgehampton, NY Kmart building that closed last month and was the last full size Kmart in the U.S.

Backfills of Ex-Department Stores

Future Target stores are also opening in mall and shopping center anchor spaces that were once occupied by department stores.

Like the new ~128,000 square foot Target store that opened in a former Sears building in El Monte, CA in October.

Target also opened its 10th store in the state of Hawaii last month in a department store space formerly occupied by Saks Fifth Avenue at the International Marketplace in Waikiki.

Conversions of Former Grocery Stores

Target is not only repurposing large format space once occupied by Big Box competitors and department stores.

It is also backfilling real estate that was previously home to grocery stores and supermarkets, as food and beverage now accounts for nearly 1/4 of Target's sales.

In doing so Target is also stepping into much smaller spaces than its conventional ~100,000+ square foot new construction large format prototype.

Such as suites vacated by local grocers in land scarce markets where it is hard to develop — and challenging to even find second generation space.

One example of these small grocer backfills is the ~33,000 square foot former Haggen’s Food & Pharmacy in Lomita, CA that re-opened as Target in July.

Another example is the ~63,000 square foot former Raley's grocery store in South Lake Tahoe, CA that had operated for over 6 decades before losing its lease in 2023 but is expected to reopen as a Target store in 2025.

Once its ~300 new stores open over the next several years, Target will operate more than 2,000 stores throughout the U.S. and have over 250 MM square feet of selling space.

But as Target continues to experiment with multiple store sizes, formats and locations, still more store openings may be in its future.

Including, perhaps, at familiar sites that today are occupied by others.