Third in line among the "Big Three" American discount marts, Target was formed by Minneapolis' Dayton department store chain, a.k.a. the Dayton Company. The first Target store was located in Roseville, Minnesota, a Saint Paul suburb.
Dayton's purchased a partially-completed store that was being built for New York City's Jubilee Shops. This became Target's mother store. When completed, it encompassed a total of 82,500 square feet. A discount department store filled 61,250 square feet, with an adjoining 21,250 square foot section housing an Applebaum Food Markets grocery. The combo store was officially dedicated on May 1, 1962.
A merger with J.L. Hudson, of Detroit, was finalized in June 1969, with the new enterprise known as the Dayton Hudson Corporation. Stores in the Target discount division encompassed between 100,000 and 120,000 square feet. The chain, a bit more upscale than its rivals, offered high-quality merchandise sold in attractive stores.
An aggressive expansion program enlarged a small, regional discount chain into a national concern. In 1962, there had been four Target units. This number had grown to forty-six in 1972, 167 in 1982 and 506 in 1992.
The first extension of Target stores, into the Denver, Colorado market, took place in 1966. Texas, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Oklahoma joined the Target fold in 1969. 1970 and '71 brought stores in Wisconsin and Iowa. In 1981, locations opened in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. California and Arizona operations were added in 1983. Michigan and Nevada units debuted in 1987, with the first Washington State, Oregon and Florida stores completed in 1988. The states of Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina were "Targeted" in 1989.
The Dayton Hudson Corporation morphed into the Target Corporation in January 2000. The remaining "carriage trade" department stores were sold in 2004. The growth of Target "upscale discount stores" continued into the next decade, with the first stores in Maine making their debut in 2001. Stores in Hawaii and Alaska were dedicated in 2009.
The Dayton Hudson Corporation morphed into the Target Corporation in January 2000. The remaining "carriage trade" department stores were sold in 2004. The growth of Target "upscale discount stores" continued into the next decade, with the first stores in Maine making their debut in 2001. Stores in Hawaii and Alaska were dedicated in 2009.
Several Target store formats were developed over the ensuing years. These included Target Greatland (1990), SuperTarget [a.k.a. "SuperT"] (1995), PFresh (2006), CityTarget (2012) and TargetExpress (2014). The physical size of said stores range from 14,000 to 174,000 square feet. As of early 2024, there were 1,948 Target stores in operation in the United States.
TARGET-ANCHORED SHOPPING MALLS:
*COLUMBIA MALL, Grand Forks, ND (1978)
*CORAL RIDGE MALL, Fort Lauderdale, FL (1999)
*WESTFIELD TOPANGA, Los Angeles, CA (2006)
*WESTFIELD TOPANGA, Los Angeles, CA (2006)
