Retail giant Targets city for facility
Distribution centre being built in Balzac
U.S. retail giant Targetcorp. is building a huge distribution centre just outside Calgary.
Molly Snyder, a Target spokesperson, confirmed the centre will be the company’s third in Canada and will be in Balzac in Rocky View County.
“The centre will be approximately 1.3 million square feet and will sit on just under 80 acres,” she said. “Target has selected sites for its distribution centres that will help to ensure that our supply chain needs are met for our canadian stores. Target intends to open its first stores in March/early April 2013 and its distribution centres will be completed in time to support the needs of the stores.”
She said the centre will be managed entirely by an outside logistics company, Eleven Points Logistics.
“They will manage all recruitment and hiring and will communicate those needs and plans with local communities in the coming months,” added Snyder. The centre will be located off of Range Road 291, east of Nexen’s Balzac Power Station. This week, Target announced the location of its first 24 stores in Canada.
As previously announced, Target purchased the leasehold interests of 189 sites currently operated by Zellers Inc., and plans to open 125 to 135 stores in Canada, the majority of which will open in 2013.
The first 24 stores are all in Ontario.
About $10 million to $11 million will be invested to remodel each facility to bring the full Target brand experience to Canadian communities.
Each Target store in Canada will employ approximately 150 to 200 team members. Store team hiring will begin in 2012 and Target will “engage” with Zellers associates to make it easy for them to apply for jobs. Minneapolis-based Target has 1,767 stores across the United States. Calgary Target locations will be at Chinook Centre, Forest Lawn Shopping Centre, Market Mall, the Shoppes at Shawnessy, Signal Hill Centre and Sunridge Mall.
Tom Dixon, business development manager of real estate and logistics with Calgary Economic Development, said he expects two or three more announcements this year in the distribution and logistics sector for the city’s region.
“It just really speaks to the critical mass that has already been achieved, that has been built — the synergies that are achieved and the importance of the sector to Calgary and the region,” he said.
The region’s road network, with access from highways and the ring road, is one of the primary reasons for the growth in the sector, he said.
“Each company has its own criteria and determines the kind of facility and the location that works best for them,” Dixon said.
“That was the basis of the Target decision. But it’s very much part of the northeast, the airport development pattern. And it’s complemented by what’s happening in the southeast which is more railoriented at the CP logistics and intermodal yard.”