New Store, Big City: Target to Open in Queens, N.Y., in 2016
The bright lights, the crowds, the hustle and bustle. When you make your home in the big city, convenience is key. So driving long distances to do your shopping, and loading up on economy-size packs that won’t fit through your apartment door? Not always an option. Target is all about bringing convenience, value and great design closer to home—and since we go where our guests go, we’re customizing each new store to ensure a locally-relevant experience, complete with assortments and shopping solutions that best fit the surrounding neighborhood’s needs. We’re excited to announce our newest flexible format store opening in Forest Hills, Queens, N.Y., in July 2016.A two-level, 21,000-square-foot space, the Queens Target store will be located near a Long Island Railroad transit stop, easily accessible on foot or by car. It’ll be a quick stop for locals to find pharmacy, fresh grocery with grab-and-go food options, basic apparel (think tees, tanks and C9 active wear for men and women), health and beauty necessities, tech accessories, tablets, mobile phones and more. We’ll stock it with a tailored assortment that caters to city dwellers, including home products perfect for single family homes and condos. And to make each shopping trip as quick and easy as possible, we’ll offer easy fulfillment options like Store Pickup, so guests can place an order online and pick it up at the store for free.
The Queens location is one of two Target stores coming to the Big Apple in 2016. Across the city, we’re designing our 100,000+-square-foot Fulton Street store to cater to residents and students in downtown Brooklyn’s Albee Square, and visitors coming from the nearby DeKalb Avenue subway station. It’ll be stocked with grab-and-go food options, innovative mobile solutions and lots more based on what local guests told us they want most.
It’s all part of our urban growth strategy to reach guests in new places with the right mix of products and shopping experiences—creating more opportunities for guests to shop how, where and when they want. How’s that for convenience?
Can I throw up now? This is an awful development. What was the last flicker of intelligence on Austin Street will now be a full out brawl for the masses to fight over flat screen tvs on doorbuster Black Friday. More congestion, vile cheap shopping consumers and their broods are on the way.
ReplyDeleteIsn't Target Express basically just replacing Amazon Prime, but without the door to door service?
ReplyDeleteAmazon Prime jacks up the prices of their items to cover free shipping.... it's not even worth it on MANY items anymore.
DeleteIt's sad state of affairs when target is seen to be a good replacement for Barnes and Noble, a store that sells books and other items that can enrich the brain. Target is only going to bring the neighborhood down, and bring a different dynamic to Austin street. I'm sad to see Barnes and Noble go, but even more dissapointed to see it being replaced by a target!
ReplyDeleteCorporations are not responsible for your brain enrichment. That is up to YOU.
DeleteThis is not the Gardens. You can not decide what goes where.
I agree. Corporations are only responsible for increasing pollution, global warming, tax-cheating, and taking away jobs from middle class Americans. Then they come back to the U.S. as a discount goods store for the same cash-strapped people they helped to create.
DeleteTarget store will be at current Barnes & Noble location.
ReplyDeleteThanks for emerging from your time warp, or alternatively putting down your Scotch long enough, to let us know
DeleteBy the way, you can't be anonymous and have hurt feelings too.
DeleteBy the way, I'm pretty sure the last time I was in the Target on Queens Blvd. that they sold books. And DVDs for that matter. So, for everyone crying about the loss of B&N, you most likely will still be able to buy books at that location—and if the Target execs are checking out this blog, I would assume they would be sensitive to the desire for books at their new location here.
ReplyDeleteAlso, as I Tweeted yesterday, now is the time for all of you book-lovers with an entrepreneurial spirit to start checking out all those empty cute little storefronts on Austin Street for the future home of your indy book shop. Everyone complains about the loss of indies and quaintness and charm on Austin, I can think of nothing that would bring some of that back then a couple of small bookshops, which, by the way, happen to be popping up all over the city once again given the demise of the book superstore.
Will the Targetx be the same size as Barnes & Noble or will it be a bit bigger? I love Target but it seems like a traffic nightmare. Although I suppose most people with a car would drive to an alternate location due to the size and lack of parking. Foot traffic on Austin can be an issue, Target or no Target so I'm wondering how it will work out . . .
ReplyDeleteIt's simple, Target is not in the character of the neighborhood. Traffic is also a concern. As for Target selling books, they have as much selection as a guy with a blanket selling them on the street. This seems likely to happen, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't make your voices heard. It also doesn't mean that you have to shop there if they should open. I encourage those who don't want to see the character and charm of our shopping district ruined to write to our council-woman and generally make their displeasure known.
ReplyDeleteCharacter and charm are lovely concepts. But they don't provide the things I need in my day-to-day life. If half as many people complaining about the demise of B&N had actually bought things there, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation. I for one am thrilled to bits that, for instance, those nasty (sorry, "charming") little shops by the nasty Key Food were replaced by big, bad, modern CVS.
ReplyDeleteIf you need a Target Express to know where to buy TP and other sundry items in FH then the problem is likely with you. People do go into B&N and buy things and they were doing well, the landlord decided not to renew.
Delete“Despite our best efforts to secure lease extensions at both our Forest Hills and Bayside Barnes & Noble locations, the respective property owners decided to lease to other tenants,” said David Deason, a vice president at Barnes & Noble.
No, the problem is not with me, and nowhere did I suggest that I could never figure out where to buy toilet paper unless Target opened here. B&N is closing down because they didn't get enough business. That is the case for most bookstores these days. Every time I went in there, no one was buying. They were hanging out, reading for free, and charging their devices. That's why the store is closing. "Charm" doesn't pay the rent on Austin Street. Paying customers do. They didn't have enough of those. I'm sorry that Forest Hills authors will no longer have a place to hawk their books. But things change, and this is one of those things.
DeleteI've tried several times to respond to this thread and the blogger seems to not approve of what I type so good luck to you and your obvious charm.
DeleteSeriously people BN is not being forced out by Target, they are closing because they arent making money, and Target is jumping on the vacant space. If no one truly wants/needs a Target, it will close too. Book stores are a novelty item in the days of smart phones, kindles, and online shopping.
ReplyDeleteI went in that Barnes and Noble twice and both times it was filled with the type of people everyone is so worried about coming into the neighborhood reading books on the floor.
It's not about poor performance, it's about money for the landlord. These things happen for a reason and it's usually greed.
Delete“Despite our best efforts to secure lease extensions at both our Forest Hills and Bayside Barnes & Noble locations, the respective property owners decided to lease to other tenants,” said David Deason, a vice president at Barnes & Noble.
Exactly -- It's a daycare center, retirement home, and a cruising spot for deperados...!!!
DeleteMichael - that statement from BN proves nothing. Their "best efforts" could've involved negotiating a rent that was lower than the market price. Its an outdated bookstore who is closing locations everywhere - they arent shutting down an orphanage.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the hyperbole. Yes BN is not an orphanage. I'm somewhat interested in the lack of a bookstore in FH, but I'm not particularly interested in BN's business remaining here. Just pointing out that the reasons behind the change are likely more related to the landlords monetary gain rather than poor performance. Despite individual anecdotal experiences, the store was not performing poorly year over year from what I've read. The most likely reason that BN is leaving is not that they're performing poorly, but that the landlord is interested in the money he can make from Target above and beyond the re-negotiated increase of the existing tenant. That opportunity is there because Target is trying to shoe horn their new concept Target Express into select neighborhoods as a test model for a possible direction for their company. Make of that what you will.
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit tired of the "greedy landlord" comments. If I was a landlord, I'd want to make as much money as I can, or at least to make my initial investment worth it. And, if I lived in the neighborhood, I'd also want to invest in my community and make it better. How many of the local landlords are "absentee" who live somewhere else and couldn't care less if their storefronts on Austin remain empty for year after year? To me, that's probably a more important question. But, again, it's a free market, so there's nothing really to do about it. Except to complain on blogs, I guess.
DeleteI said he was interested in the money, I didn't say he was greedy per se, which is also not the point of my comments in general. Opening a Target Express isn't the same as investing in our community, assuming you live in FH, I've been trying to make the point several times that it is detrimental to FH. So if you really want a Target Express enough to label it in that way best of luck to you.
DeleteHow is it not "investing in our community"? I can only assume the store will not be staffed by robots, but humans. And how is it "detrimental to FH," exactly? Target sells items that are not readily available without getting on a bus or train, which involves lots of waiting, walking, and lugging. The only way it will be detrimental is if it deteriorates into the "only one cashier with a line out the door, and don't restock the shelves until they're empty" business model as quickly as the new CVS did (which is the same as all CVS stores) or is allowed to become as grimy and depressing as the bizarre time machine that is Kmart in Middle Village. I don't expect either will happen, but if they do, I will agree with you.
DeleteEven though the B&N is only a couple of minutes away from me, I still choose to buy from them online instead. Why? Because the store is a zoo. It's crowded and loud, and it's nearly impossible to browse the shelves because of all the people lounging around in front of them, reading for free (and never putting anything back where they found it) and yakking on their cellphones. My stress level skyrockets whenever I go in there. Which would be one thing if any of these people were customers, but most of them are not. They're freeloaders, and not very quiet ones. I suspect B&N simply could no longer afford to host these people who were filling the place up and using the store's resources, but weren't buying anything.
ReplyDeleteAs for Target, this is nothing different from what Home Depot, Kmart and now Lowe's have done in urban areas. We need a decent place to buy basic, affordable, safely manufactured things for our apartments, from small appliances to kitchen/bed/bath and pet supplies… without having to take the bus or subway to neighboring towns OR rely on the crap sold at Value Depot. We need Target more than we need B&N in Forest Hills, and Target is much less likely to be packed with freeloading non-customers. Charm and character are nice, but they mean squat if it takes me all day to find a freaking PLUNGER in the neighborhood. Welcome, Target.
Wow, all this Target love being expressed, it's truly amazing how fully people can swallow a hook. If only there was as much love for Forest Hills as there is for lifestyle branding. Truly, if you can't find toilet paper or a plunger in FH then let's be honest, you can't find the ground after falling on it either.
ReplyDeleteExactly how is Target detrimental to the character of FH? I can't tell when I'm getting punk'd at times so I'm going to treat that question as serious rather than a flippantly ignorant joke. What is the difference between the wonderful architecture you find through out Forest Hills, Forest Hills Gardens and the McMansions on the other side of Queens blvd on Jewel Avenue? What is the difference between Elmhurst and Forest Hills, or Flushing and Forest Hills for that matter? When you can answer these questions then you will understand the blindingly obvious answer to yours.
Character and charm doesn't pay the bills and certainly there is room for well thought out development in the Forest Hills shopping area, but whatever you think that should look like, Target is only the answer if you've got some agenda or interest that keeps you 'anonymous.'
Will you give it a rest? Not everyone who wishes to remain anonymous for privacy reasons (especially a woman who has been stalked after using my real name online) has an "agenda" and not everyone who disagrees with YOUR views has "swallowed a hook." It's a store. You're taking it way too seriously by acting like it's threatening mankind or something. And by the way, I never mentioned not being able to find toilet paper. YOU DID. So you're basically high-fiving yourself for refuting something only YOU ever said. But to answer your question, no, I could not find a plunger in the immediate vicinity when I needed one. You're starting to sound like a crazed conspiracy theorist. My only "interest" here is being able to purchase things I want and need quickly and easily. Sorry if that makes me some kind of Philistine to you. But I honestly don't care if what's important to you is what other people's houses look like on the outside. That does not affect my daily life and it doesn't really affect yours unless you are a control freak who needs everyone to abide by your tastes and sensibilities. Which it sounds like you are. "I don't like this, so no one else can have it!!" So ramble all you like about character and charm and blahblahblah. If that's your personal crusade, fine. But don't try to force it on everyone else, and treat them like they're just not as knowing as sophisticated as you. Frankly, you're a walking cliché with all this sanctimonious talk. Given the choice between a neighborhood that provides me with choices and has nothing but "wonderful architecture," yeah, I'll take the choices. You don't want to shop at Target, don't. It really is that simple. Curmudgeons always resist change and modern progress, and you are no different.
DeleteAh, 'all caps,' the last refuge of the rhetorically challenged. I'm confident people can read this thread and have a good handle on the issue. Have fun shopping at Target.
ReplyDelete"Rhetorically challenged"? Hardly. I capitalized three words/phrases for emphasis. And speaking of being rhetorically challenged, how many times did you bring up that I said I couldn't find toilet paper in Forest Hills, despite my responses that I never said that? Then you fling feces at me and congratulate yourself for once again pointing out the nitwit who can't find toilet paper, hahaha! when the only person who ever mentioned toilet paper was YOU (caps for emphasis). I know you think all your lofty talk of charm, character, architecture, etc. makes you sound worldly and sophisticated, but it just makes you sound like a "get off my lawn" curmudgeon who insists that no one needs these newfangled phones when the rotary one in your parlor works just fine. I will have fun shopping at Target while you walk around the neighborhood cursing under your breath, bemoaning everything you're not used to, and shaking your fist at the clouds.
Delete