Target Opens Small Store Format In Queens

Target has opened a new small format store in the Forest Hills section of Queens on a busy commercial strip serving a neighborhood where most residents are apartment dwellers.

As with many other New York neighborhoods, Forest Hills is a place where consumers need to maximize limited space, and Target seems to have suited the store to their preferences. The two-level 21,000 square foot store has a limited basic, seasonally oriented apparel department on a first floor that also accommodates a fairly broad home department, one that features everything from water bottles to microwave ovens. Selection in the housewares segments is limited when compared to Target discount stores and the items selected are often scaled for shoppers who have to make the most out of relatively compact domestic spaces.

Upstairs, the store features a food department that, like home, is broad but limited, and includes perishables. In contrast, the beauty department is relatively expansive and includes consumables as well as durables such as beauty tools. The store also houses a CVS pharmacy and a Starbucks that remains as a holdover from the location's days as a Barnes & Noble store.

Adjoining the check stand, a pickup counter allows customers to grab store delivered goods, essentially expanding what consumers can get through the store with a minimal space commitment.

Along with Forest Hills location, Target has just opened the small format stores in Chicago's North Lincoln Park community, sized at 31,000 square feet; the Brookline section of metro Boston, at 16,000 square feet; and Philadelphia, at 19,000 square feet.