Ribbon cutting Tuesday to celebrate Center City Target store's opening

A ribbon cutting ceremony is set for Tuesday evening to mark the opening of a new Target store at 11th and Chestnut Streets in Center City.

The store will have its soft-opening Wednesday and grand opening on Sunday.

Mayor Kenney and city Commerce Director Harold Epps are slated to attend the 5:15 p.m. ribbon-cutting.

"I am thrilled to have Target moving to 11th and Chestnut Street," Epps said Tuesday in an emailed statement. "This development is another key milestone for this section of the city, which is experiencing significant revitalization after many years of decline.

"Attracting new businesses to the city is a key component of the Department of Commerce's economic development strategy. New businesses such as this Target location not only serve as a catalyst to attract further development and business attraction, but they also mean more jobs for Philadelphians."

The new store, at 1128 Chestnut St., will be the first and the smallest of Target's four new "flexible-format" stores to open in Philadelphia. These stores, previously called Target Express, are smaller than the retail giant's traditional box stores and cater to the urban customer.

The Center City store is about 19,000 square feet in size.

"The soft opening really allows our Target team to get the store up and running in advance of marketing the store," so things can be perfect, said Kristy Welker, a spokeswoman for Minneapolis-based Target.

Kenney, Epps and the store's manager are expected to say a few words at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

At Sunday's grand opening, store employees will distribute reusable bags to the first 1,500 customers, she said.

The new store will offer grab-and-go groceries, organic produce, health and beauty items, a selection of men's and women's clothing, some baby products, tech accessories, tablets and cellphones, home products, a CVS Pharmacy, Starbucks and a place to pick up online orders.

It will be open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays to Fridays; 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays; and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays.

The store will cater to young working professionals in the area, Welker said.

The other flexible-format Target stores in the city are planned for:

- 1900 Chestnut St., two blocks north of Rittenhouse Square, with a soft opening of Oct. 5 and a grand opening Oct. 9.

- The Ivyridge shopping center, at Ridge Avenue and Domino Lane, in Upper Roxborough, slated for March. It will be the largest of the four flexible-format stores at about 47,000 square feet in size.

- 2001 Pennsylvania Ave., where there is now a Whole Foods store, near the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It is projected to open in October 2017.

The new stores are part of Target's expansion into urban areas. Nationwide, Target's flexible-format stores have opened in dense urban areas or on college campuses with the smallest measuring 15,000 square feet and the largest measuring about 125,000 square feet, said Welker.

In comparison, Target's traditional large box stores average about 130,000 square feet in size.

Target already has four of its traditional box stores in Philadelphia: in South Philadelphia, near Christopher Columbus Boulevard; on Monument Road near City Avenue; off Castor Avenue in Port Richmond; and on Bustleton Avenue in Rhawnhurst.

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