Red and white and very bright – St. Albert’s Target will open to the public on Tuesday, May 7 at 8 a.m.
The St. Albert location is one of 22 new stores in Western Canada.
Bryan Berg, senior vice president of Target Canada, promises consumers a clean, clutter-free and diverse shopping environment.
“Some of the things you see here today not only reflect what you would see in the U.S. but actually reflects some of the newest and best things in our stores,” he told local media during a tour of a new Target store at West Edmonton Mall.
In all, Target will open 124 stores across Canada this year, most in former Zellers’ locations, with some 27,000 employees. Individual stores will hire 150 to 200 “team members.”
Within the next decade, the retailer expects to expand to 200 stores across the country.
The average Target is 114,000 square feet in size with about 67,000 square feet of net retail space. The St. Albert outlet, previously a Zellers store, will add some 21,000 square feet to St. Albert Centre.
Berg said Target provided a “one-stop shopping experience” to customers.
The store will carry everything from apparel and accessories to beauty and personal care products, groceries, home and seasonal items and everyday essentials.
Items are organized in groups and colours to fit consumer needs: girl toys are in pink aisles, boy toys in blue ones, and baby items are located near the maternity section.
“If you visited a Target store 10 years ago you would have found the diapers in one part of the store, the infant toys in another … and the infant clothing in yet another part of the store,” Berg said.
“We went through an initiative several years ago to bring all those elements together in one spot.”
For a limited time, Target will also carry a number of Canadian designer brands, including Canadian clothier Roots, and Sam and Libby footwear. Sports fans will find seasonal and local team wear in the “fan central” area.
Customers may still experience some sticker shock when finding that prices at Target Canada will not always be on par with U.S. stores.
Instead, Target looks to operate competitively with other retailers in the Canadian market and offers price-match guarantees throughout the stores.
Berg reiterated that he is not concerned about consumers crossing the border to shop in a U.S. Target.
“Our function is to be absolutely price right in the Canadian market,” he said.
Target Canada spent an average of $10 million per location on renovating former Zellers stores and pursuing LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards. Based on each location, Berg said stores would differ from their U.S. counterparts.
Canadian stores are often smaller and have multiple entrances and exits with self checkouts to aid customers in their shopping.
While they do not offer a cafeteria, the majority of stores come with a Starbucks, as well as an in-store pharmacy with patient consultation rooms. For now, consumers will not be able to shop online at Canadian stores.
Berg said Target is not expecting to be affected by labour shortages in Alberta and was successful in recruiting staff.
He could not predict whether Target in Western Canada will experience stock shortages similar to those at stores in Ontario when they first opened.
“With no previous history to rely on we’ve taken our best estimates at what would sell and at what quantities and we learned a lot,” he said.
“We don’t expect perfection here but we are really excited about the improvement and again the continual learning. And being in-stock for our guests is one of our top priorities.”
St. Albert Target will be open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Saturday and from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday.
Following the stores’ soft openings on May 7, Target Canada will hold a grand opening at its Western Canada locations on May 24.
Joan Elson, PR manager for Target Canada, said soft openings allow the company to add some final touches to its stores. Following the grand opening, Target’s first flyers will be available to customers.
