Why Target Should Be In Downtown Fresno

For decades, there has been talk of attracting large retail stores to springboard development in Downtown Fresno. Starting in the 1990’s and peaking in the 2000’s, city leaders put a major effort into attracting a nationally recognized, “big box” store that would anchor a suburban-style shopping center south of Chukchansi Park. The most memorable of these efforts was the Bass Pro Shops and South Stadium saga (not to be confused with the current, completely different South Stadium project). At that time, civic leaders believed that Bass Pro or Ikea or another “destination” retailer (along with an accompanying shopping district) would be a sort of “silver bullet” in the revitalization of Downtown Fresno.

Fulton Street and the (new) South Stadium block under construction.

Of course, no destination store ever came, and a downtown shopping area never materialized. Many people were disappointed at the time, but today, the general consensus is that it was actually a good thing that a large commercial center was never built downtown. After the first South Stadium project fell apart, Fresno’s civic leaders decided to change tactics and instead began to pursue many smaller, more manageable development projects.

As a result of these efforts (and the efforts of countless members of the downtown and greater Fresno community) over the last few years, the fate of Downtown Fresno has finally started to swing the other way, led mostly by an explosion of jobs and housing in the area. Almost six hundred new apartments have either been completed or are in various stages of construction, with hundreds more still in the planning stages. The number of employers in Downtown Fresno is also on the rise: more than fifty new businesses have been launched downtown in the last three years, and over 150,000 square feet of new office space (mostly tech) was announced in the first quarter of 2017 alone. At the heart of all of this is the rise of millennials and their preference to live and work in urban areas rather than the suburbs that the generations before them gravitated towards.

Enjoying live music, food trucks, and, of course, beer at Tioga Sequoia Brewing Company in Downtown Fresno.

As young people move into downtowns across the country (Fresno isn’t the only place where this transformation is happening), they are bringing with them a need for services and entertainment. In many urban centers, trendy bars and restaurants are moving into downtowns and retailers are retooling their store designs to match millenials’ shopping habits. By the end of 2017, Downtown Fresno will have five microbreweries as well as multiple new coffee shops and restaurants. There are currently three grocery stores downtown (Grocery Outlet, Smart and Final, and Central Fish Company), in addition to a FoodMaxx located in nearby Kerney Palms. Downtown Fresno is growing nicely, but what the area is most lacking is a general merchandise store like a Target.

Current Target and WalMart locations in Fresno.

If you look at a map of the region, Target and Wal-Mart have most of the Fresno/Clovis area pretty well covered. In the southeast, northeast (including Clovis), and northwest, most residents live no more than a couple miles from either of these brands. However, there is a huge, almost gaping hole in the southwestern part of town (including downtown) where no stores of this type are easily accessible. For someone living in the Pacific Southwest building or the new lofts at Van Ness and Inyo, the closest Target or Wal-Mart is more than 5 miles away. For a family living in the southwest part of the city near the Chandler Airport, one of these stores is even further.

Target has been near the top of the “retail wish list” of Downtown Fresno residents for quite some time (even though most downtown residents tend to prefer non-chain stores and restaurants). Until a few years ago, Target only had two types of stores, giant-sized ‘regular’ Targets and even larger-sized Super Targets. Both of these concepts were simply too big for Downtown Fresno, and for many other densely-populated areas around the country. Recognizing a growing need, Target began making plans for a new line of smaller stores designed just for urban areas.

A “CityTarget” sized store in downtown Portland.

Shortly after 2010, realizing that there were many areas across the country that either could not support full-sized Target locations or did not have the room to build them, Target Corp created two smaller formats of stores: “CityTarget” and “Target Express.” The former – a scaled-down (about 2/3 size) version of a regular Target store – opened mostly in larger metropolitan downtowns: New York, Seattle, and San Francisco were three of the first cities to get one. The latter – an even smaller store format (the first few were not much bigger than a standard CVS or Walgreens) – began to pop up in areas surrounding universities and in other urban areas. According to the retailer’s website, Target Express stores were “tailored to city dwellers” and featured “an edited assortment of merchandise, including fresh produce, grab-and-go food and snacks, pharmacy, home, seasonal, electronics, beauty and more.”

A “Target Express” sized store in Downtown Berkeley.

Then, in 2015, Target began to re-brand CityTarget and Target Express stores, calling them simply “Target” ‘flexible-format’ stores. The retail giant’s corporate website described what the change meant for the brand: “In the last three years, we introduced flexible formats called CityTarget and TargetExpress in 14 locations across the country. These stores vary in size and assortment, and allow us to create a more locally-relevant experience for guests in urban areas. We’re committed as ever to our urban growth strategy, developing stores specially designed for densely populated areas. And we’ll keep integrating our digital channels, services like Store Pickup, and other innovations into the experience so guests always have all of Target at their fingertips.”

Housewares at Downtown Berkeley’s Target.

I decided to visit two former Target Express locations – now branded as “Target” stores – in Minneapolis, MN and Berkeley, CA. Both of these stores are fairly small: they clock in at 20,000 square feet or less (again, around the size of a Walgreens or CVS). However, both locations carry a much more appealing and functional assortment of items for urban dwellers than the convenience stores they are partially aiming to compete with. In addition to many of the same items that can be found at a typical CVS (including a full CVS pharmacy – more on that Target/CVS relationship in a bit), I also found:

• A large assortment of everyday products, including a good-sized grocery section that had much more than just the chips, candy, and soda that dominate convenience stores.
• A housewares section that had everything from basic tableware and cookware to storage containers, bathroom items, and a small assortment of sheets, towels, and pillows.
• A fairly good assortment of cleaning supplies and consumable that ranged from zip-lock bags, paper towels, and toilet paper, to bathroom/kitchen cleaners, detergents, and sponges.
• A few aisles of personal-care items including shampoo, soap, toothpaste and brushes, cosmetics, and more.
• A small clothing section including many basics ranging from underwear, socks, belts, and sleepwear, to a very basic selection of pants, shorts, shirts, and outerwear.
• A good-seized electronics area that had a lot of accessories, including headphones, chargers, cables, memory cards, batteries, printer ink, and top-up cards, but also had a small number of cell phones, tablets, and a couple other small electronics.
• Additionally, there was a small school/office section, a very small automotive section, and a few locally-branded items.
• Patrons can order any item that Target sells and have it shipped to the store. They can also return any item they purchased from any Target.

Clothing on display inside the Minneapolis Target.

Since the re-branding, Target has opened more “flexible format” stores in all shapes and sizes, from small locations like the ones in Minneapolis and Berkeley (and just look at all the stuff they were able to fit in those stores), all the way up to larger 80,000+ square foot stores. Many of the stores that the corporation has opened or plans to open this year are in the 40,000 to 50,000 square foot range, about 1/3 the size of the average Target location (for comparison, most of the Targets in Fresno clock in at 130,000+ square feet). Additionally, new flexible-format stores are no longer being limited to college areas or major cities.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the one place that Downtown Fresno residents can currently shop for general merchandise: the CVS Pharmacy at Fulton and Tuolumne. The location has been on the Fulton Mall (soon to be Fulton Street) for decades, having been acquired by CVS from Longs Drugs. It’s been so successful that, in 2013, CVS went before the planning commission asking to build a new, slightly larger store adjacent to the current one. Unfortunately, unlike some urban CVS locations, designs called for a very suburban-like store that would be stand-alone, one story (although some plans did call for an office and storage on the second floor), and include an ugly drive-through and large, surface-level parking lot. Fortunately, that request was rejected based on arguments that the “CVS vision doesn’t fit into what Fulton Corridor is destined to become.” In other words, the city wanted a unique, urban concept, not a cookie-cutter store they could find in a strip mall in Clovis.

Downtown Fresno’s CVS

Unfortunately, after losing the battle to build a new, stand-alone store, CVS really let its current location go. While the store is about as big as a small-sized, flexible format Target location, the space is very poorly under-utilized. There are large open spaces throughout it, and while they do carry a few non-pharmacy goods like housewares and office supplies, the selections are paltry and stock often low. The “food” options mostly consist of alcohol, soda, snacks, and candy. Other than socks and a couple packs of underwear, there is no clothing. Right now, with no competition, there is no real motivation to make the store any better.

Inside Downtown Fresno’s CVS: Lots of Unused Space.

The good news for current CVS customers and for the company itself is that, even if a Target took the place of the current CVS store, there would still be a CVS operated pharmacy in that location. In 2015, “CVS Health acquired Target’s 1,672 pharmacies and will operate them through a store-within-a-store format.” Additionally, the companies announced that “a CVS/pharmacy will be included in all new Target stores.”  Basically, even though the store itself would be a Target, the pharmacy would be a CVS: sort of the best of both worlds.

It’s obvious at this point that Fresno deserves a general merchandise store that’s been designed inside and out to fit within both the urban vision and (growing) population of downtown. With the construction of Fulton Street, BRT, and the HSR road improvements nearing completion (and with multiple new residential projects breaking ground on or near the current CVS), now is the perfect time to start planning for this type of store. Going forward, here are the possible scenarios that I see:

1. No change occurs. The current, neglected, extremely ugly CVS location continues to operate on Fulton Street. Residents must travel long distances just to pick up many everyday items, or settle for the meager selection at CVS. This option is, by far, the worst.
2. CVS is approved to build a new, more urban location near the current store. The new store is on the ground floor and has apartments/retail/offices/parking above it. This option is more ideal than no change, but a flexible-format Target has the potential to offer a better mix of items to residents.
3. Target forms a partnership with a (hopefully local) developer and builds a 20,000-30,000 square foot store on the ground floor of a 4+ story residential and/or commercial building. CVS would continue to own/operate the pharmacy, and the accounts of everyone who uses the current CVS would transfer over. Parking would be incorporated into the design, either above the store on the second floor, or below it in the basement (just not as a separate surface lot). This would be the most ideal outcome.

A small Target in Minneapolis that’s part of a mixed-use development. Can you picture this building in place of the CVS on Fulton Street?

So, what can we do to promote option 3? First of all, I really hope someone from Target reads this article and sees that: 1) Downtown Fresno is growing in leaps and bounds, both commercially and residentially 2) there is a great need for a retailer like Target, and based on the current growth, that demand is only going to rise; and 3) Target would be the preferred retailer for downtown residents. Secondly, write, email, tweet, facebook, and otherwise let Target know that you want to see one of their flexible-format stores in Downtown Fresno.

As always, thanks for reading! Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments below. Particularly, I’m wondering:

1. Have you been inside a “flexible format” Target? What do you think of the concept?
2. What do you think of adding a store like this to Fulton Street or elsewhere in downtown?
3. If you live or work downtown or in SW Fresno, do you think that a smaller format Target like the one described above would fill your everyday shopping needs? Is there anything in particular you would like to see them carry?