South Burlington
The chain said in a news release that it has signed a lease at the University Mall to open a 60,000-square-foot “small format store,” a model designed to serve communities close to college campuses and in urban areas.
Target’s Vermont location means it will have stores in all 50 states, according to the release. Target will replace the Bon-Ton department store at the mall, which recently announced it would not renew its lease and will close at the end of January.
The Target store will offer men’s and women’s apparel and accessories, children’s and baby apparel, back-to-school items, home decor, and health and beauty products, as well as groceries.
“Vermont has a dynamic retail market, and we are very pleased to welcome Target to the state, further strengthening this sector and enhancing retail options for our consumers,” said Gov. Phil Scott in a statement provided by the company.
Target’s Vermont store is expected to have 75 employees, according to the release. The company recently said it would bring its minimum hourly wage up to $11 and has pledged to make it $15 by 2020. Vermont’s minimum wage of $10 an hour will go to $10.50 on Jan. 1 and thereafter will rise with the consumer price index.
South Burlington City Manager Kevin Dorn lauded the arrival of Target, saying the store will be “yet another great anchor” for South Burlington’s planned city center.
The reaction from one Church Street retailer to the arrival of Target was mixed. Mark Bouchett, operations manager at Homeport, said a major national retailer such as Target does solid market research and must view the region as a stable or growing market. That’s a positive indicator for the retail sector as a whole, he said.
On the other hand, having a well-known competitor move into a nearby retail center is a real concern, Bouchett said. It means Homeport and other Church Street businesses will need to continue building on what makes them unique, he said.
“We think of shopping as an extension of entertainment,” Bouchett said.
With so many local shops, bars and restaurants, Church Street is likely to retain a flair that would be hard to replicate in South Burlington, he said.
Still, with South Burlington officials intent on establishing their own city center, Bouchett said retailers in the Queen City would be remiss not to contemplate a future with a competing downtown.
So, in his opinion, can the region support two downtown shopping destinations? “I honestly don’t know,” he said. “My gut tells me it can. I think the Burlington area is going to continue to grow whether it wants to or not.”
Bouchett said he might even want to open a second location in South Burlington if the right space were to open up.
“If they’re able to do it in South Burlington, yeah, I want to be a part of that,” he said.