Sneak preview
Target gives advance look at its first P. E. I. store.
Target gave the media an exclusive preview of its first P. E. I. store on Thursday, hoping it hits the bullseye with consumers on Nov. 13.
The giant U. S. retailer opens as the anchor tenant in the Charlottetown Mall at 8 a. m. on Wednesday.
Wide, clutter- free aisles, a large grocery section, a Starbucks coffee shop and loads of brand- name clothing highlight 105,000 square feet of shopping.
Lisa Gibson, spokeswoman with Target Canada, said the company poured more than $ 10 million into the store to give it a fresh and modern appearance after Zellers vacated the space earlier this year.
“The way we renovated we’ve been able to open it up a lot more so it feels a lot brighter and a lot more open,’’ Gibson told The Guardian following an hour- long tour of the store.
“We have the wide aisles and they are clutter- free. You won’t see product being sold in the aisles. We wanted to make it really easy for people with strollers and kids to easily navigate through the store.’’
A lot of stores have music playing overhead as people shop but there will be none of that here.
“Our goal is to create a distractionfree experience so you notice there is no music on and there won’t be any music on when we open.’’
One of the big issues with most shoppers is waiting in line at the checkout. Gibson promises that won’t be an issue at Target.
“If there is one person in line and one person being checked out and anyone else approaches we will actually call for backup and open an additional checkout. All team members are cross- trained across multiple departments . . . if we need a backup they can jump in on another register.’’
Their goal is to be “competitively priced’’ meaning if a shopper brings in a flyer indicating the price of a product Target sells is more expensive than a competitor is charging, they will make the competitor’s price.
Brand names inside the Target store include Beaver Canoe, the Nate Berkus décor line, Sonia Kashuk’s cosmetics and makeup brushes, C9 by Champion, Design by Disney, Shaun White in boys’ clothing and Target’s own Archer Farms food line.
Jennifer Brenton, a UPEI student who works for The Cadre student newspaper, loved what she saw.
“It’s going to be a great experience for young university students like myself,’’ Brenton said. “Beautiful clothes. It doesn’t have that cheapish feel to it. I find that I’m going to be able to find stuff a lot easier.’’
The red Target colours are prominent throughout the store, much like the red Zellers colours in the old store but that’s where the comparisons end for Brenton.
“No, not at all,’’ Brenton said when asked if it reminded her of Zellers. “It’s a lot more high scale. There will be a lot of younger people ( shopping here). We’re the Target generation.’’
Including the Charlottetown location, Target will be opening 31 stores across Canada next week. Like P. E. I., Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick are getting their first taste of Target as well.
The company has no plans, at this time, to expand into Summerside.
But the retailer hasn’t ruled out expansion plans to the Prince County city in the future.
Target hired 120 people to work at the Charlottetown store. Gibson said they’ll be hiring an additional 20 to 30 people to help over the Christmas shopping season. Anyone interested should contact store manager Shane Doyle.
Even the Charlottetown Mall is getting spruced up for the occasion. More than $ 4 million is being spent to improve parking around the building and workers were even busy on Thursday laying new sod around the mall.