The Target store at Tillicum shopping centre is opening at 8 a.m. today as part of the western Canada roll out.
A total of 22 Targets are opening today in B.C., Alberta and Manitoba. Of the nine B.C. stores, two more Vancouver Island Targets are opening in the Nanaimo North Town Centre and in Campbell River at the Discovery Harbour Shopping Centre.
The U.S. retailing giant is launching 124 stores across Canada this year. So far, 24 stores have opened in Ontario and two more openingsare planned May 14.
Target is marching into Canada’s retailing landscape armed with heavy artillery. In 2010, the U.S. company bought most of the Zellers real estate assets across Canada.
The company is known in the U.S. for its fashion-forward clothing, competitive pricing and a wide selection of merchandise, including toys, furniture and home decor. Still to be discovered is whether prices in the Canadian market will meet customers’ expectations.
People walking by Target at Tillicum on Monday stopped to peer in the windows and cars slowed down as drivers and passengers craned their necks at the store. Like others in its group, this Target store stands out visually with large red orbs placed on the sidewalk in front of the cream-and-red coloured store with its bull’s-eye logo.
A wide crosswalk and two stop signs are located in front of it, where fresh pavement was installed in the parking lot.
Liz Wadsworth, of Victoria, is going to stay away on Tuesday but plans to come by another time. The mum of three has never been to a Target but “everyone always tells me I should go when we go State-side.” She’s looking forward to checking out a different selection of clothes for her children.
One couple couldn’t wait, arriving at the store Monday morning, hoping it was open. Only staff wearing red shirts were going in and out.
“Target is thrilled to be opening stores in Western Canada, providing a one-stop shopping destination that meets the wants and needs of our guests,” Tony Fisher Target Canada president said in a release.
Merchants at Tillicum have been looking forward to the arrival of Target because they anticipate a surge in foot traffic from shoppers flocking to the new store.
Target spent close to $11 million to renovate the former Zellers store at Tillicum for its entrance into the capital region market. A second Target store at Hillside Centre is under construction and will open in spring 2014.
