Target held a press conference at Jake’s Grill in mid-February to officially announce its project to bring a Target location into the heart of downtown Portland. The Minneapolis chain has already begun construction on multiple floors in the century-old Galleria building on Southwest 11th Avenue and Southwest Morrison Street.
Target held a press conference at Jake’s Grill in mid-February to officially announce its project to bring a Target location into the heart of downtown Portland. The Minneapolis chain has already begun construction on multiple floors in the century-old Galleria building on Southwest 11th Avenue and Southwest Morrison Street.
The new Target will differ in structure from its suburban cousins, following other “city” Targets in cities like Seattle, Chicago and San Francisco. With the city’s flow in mind, it is designed to take up over 10 percent less square footage than standard stores, decreasing its urban footprint. It will, however, carry the same basic items.
Preparations for the new store’s arrival have been underway since at least fall of last year. In late October 2011, Target received unanimous approval from the Historic Landmarks Commission—the organization tasked with ensuring that buildings like the Galleria, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, are properly preserved for the future—to make significant alterations to the Galleria’s infrastructure. Target requires several large loading bays in order to stock shelves.
Official reaction to the proposed construction has been positive from city hall and retail organizations alike. The Oregonian reported that Mayor Sam Adams praised Target’s spokesmen, claiming, “This will be one of the best decisions you’ve ever made.” William Palmer, the store manager of the Galleria Brooks Brothers and member of the Downtown Retail Council, expressed a particularly optimistic view of Target’s future location. “We’re very happy to have them coming in upstairs,” Palmer said. The Downtown Retail Council is an association that counts nearly all of the major Portland retailers amongst its members.
Not all Portlanders are as excited to see the retail giant enter the inner city. The Galleria building houses several technical schools and the Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute. The ongoing construction has created a cacophony of sound that echoes throughout the building, reaching so far as the culinary school’s offices on the fifth floor.
Melody L., a Portland resident and business owner who did not wish to have her full name printed, related some of her customers’ concerns over the future impact of Target’s presence in the region, even though she is personally supportive of the project as a much-needed source of employment in the area. She said that some Portlanders worry that the presence of a store like Target would engender too much congestion and take away from the clientele of other smaller businesses.
Rossitza Wooster, associate professor of economics at Portland State, is unconvinced. She said that outside of the store’s supply line, most of the new Target’s traffic would be inner-city residents. The MAX stops across the street from the Galleria, and it would likely bring a lot of non-vehicle foot traffic to the area. However, should TriMet eliminate the free rail zone, it could mean that the area becomes more congested with vehicles.
Wooster said that the introduction of a Target could be good for the city, forcing stores like Safeway—who she jokingly said will have “a Target on their backs”—to become more competitive with pricing in the overlapping areas. The introduction of a store with consumer electronics to Portland will also be a boon for those living downtown, who now have very few options in the inner city; big box stores like Best Buy are miles from downtown.
If construction proceeds on schedule, the new Target should open next winter.
