The College Park Target under Landmark Apartments is expected to close May 13 due to its lack of meeting performance goals, a Target spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday.
Factors leading to the closure of the College Park location included difficult parking, a lack of foot traffic and proximity to other, larger Targets. Target is located at 7501 Baltimore Ave., and has been in College Park since 2015. The location was one of the first TargetExpress locations — a smaller format Target store — in the U.S. These stores are about 15 percent of the size of a Target store.
Every year Target looks at its stores and identifies locations that have been declining in store performance and are no longer reaching performance goals, the spokesperson said. If a store is underperforming for multiple years in a row, it will close.
Because the space is privately owned, it is unclear what will replace Target, said Michael Williams, College Park’s economic development manager. The city would like to have another store with a pharmacy or other services for students and residents.
“We know a lot of residents and students were able to walk over from campus to get their medical needs,” Williams said. “The city is going to work diligently to find a replacement.”
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act protects workers, families and communities by requiring employers with 100 or more employees to provide at least a 60-day notice of a location closing, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. There are 45 part-time and full-time employees at this location.
Target’s main priority is ensuring the employees are taken care of, the spokesperson said. Target has notified employees, who are being offered positions at nearby locations.
“We look forward to bringing in maybe a better service and a better name, commercial brand for our residents,” Williams said. “Now we’re faced with the challenge of bringing (residents) something better than what was there.”
