Target is closing 4 locations in Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and the DC area – here's the full list

Dominick Reuter

Mar 15, 2023, 18:48 IST

Target is closing 4 locations in Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and the DC area – here's the full list

Target said declining foot traffic is the reason for the closures of its stores in Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and the DC area.Ann Matica/Insider

Target will close four locations in three US cities in the coming months: DC, Philadelphia, and Minneapolis.
All four locations are smaller-format stores that the company rolled out to reach shoppers in urban areas.

Target will close four locations in three metro areas: two near DC, one in Philadelphia, and one in its hometown of Minneapolis.

The company cited declining foot traffic as its primary reason for the closures and said most store employees would be offered positions at other locations.

"The decision to close one of our stores isn't something we take lightly," Kayla Castañeda, a spokesperson for Target, told Insider. "It's an action we take only after multiple years of working to improve performance," she said.

Target is not the only retailer closing stores this year; Walmart previously confirmed it will close eight retail locations that it says are not meeting financial performance expectations, while Best Buy and Bath & Body Works have announced closures as a part of a broader shift in their footprint strategy.

All four stores are smaller-format locations — roughly 20,000 square feet — that the company began rolling out about a decade ago to reach shoppers in more urban areas. The four stores are slated to close on May 13.

In its annual report filed last week with the SEC, Target said that it intends to open about 20 new stores and completely remodel 70 existing locations this year. Half of the new locations will be small-format stores, Castañeda said.

Most Target stores are typically around 130,000 square feet, and the company recently has been developing formats larger than 170,000 square feet in a push to fulfill more e-commerce orders from its stores.

Castañeda told Insider that Target does not have any other closures planned for 2023; Target has more than 50 other stores in each of the three metro areas, and in several cases has stores within three miles of the locations facing closure, she said.