Target is closing one of its Center City locations

The “small-format” Target at 12th and Chestnut Streets is slated to close May 13, the company informed its 45 employees who work at that location this week.

The retailer cited years of underperforming sales and declining foot traffic as contributing factors. What’s more, there are two other Target stores within two miles of 12th and Chestnut. Employees at the closing location will have the option to move to nearby sites.

In a statement, Target spokesperson Kayla Castañeda said the company remains committed to the Philly metro area, where it operates more than 50 stores.

“The decision to close one of our stores isn’t something we take lightly,” said Castañeda. “It’s an action we take only after multiple years of working to improve performance.”

The company has three additional upcoming closures — one in Minneapolis and two around Washington, D.C.

The 12th and Chestnut Target opened in 2016, Center City’s first, and part of a wave of four so-called small-format stores in Philadelphia. These types of stores were key to the company’s efforts to enter American downtowns, urban neighborhoods, and college areas, offering much of what their larger counterparts did without duplicating what other local stores had to offer. The retail giant added other local details, such as a wall-size mural of Philly icons including Independence Hall.

The location made the most of its 19,000 square feet, including a pharmacy; the national average for small-format stores is 40,000 square feet. A full-size Target can be 130,000 square feet.

Despite the closure, Target isn’t moving away from the small-format model. Of the roughly 20 locations Target plans to add to its portfolio in the next year, including a location at 37th and Chestnut Streets, about half are expected to be small-format.

Target joins chains such as Starbucks, Wawa, Marshalls, and H&M, which have similarly opted to shutter some of their Center City storefronts. Still, industry observers have cautioned against an overly pessimistic view of the state of retail in Center City, pointing to rising foot traffic and retail occupancy since 2020.