In Chicago, where baseball loyalties are divided between the Cubs (North Side) and the White Sox (South Side), Target Corp. has decidedly pledged its allegiance to the Cubs.

Or has it?

Target enjoys a multi-year marketing deal with the Cubs to support its new CityTarget store, which includes a noticeable bull's eye logo on the famed ivy and brick outfield in Wrigley Field.

Only one problem: the CityTarget store is technically located on the South Side.

Last year, the Minneapolis-based retailer opened the CityTarget store to much fanfare on State and Madison streets. Designed by famed architect Louis Sullivan and built in 1899, the building, which is a U.S. historic landmark, was home to the Schlesinger and Mayer department store and later Carson Pirie Scott.

But a decision by Chicago's City Council in 1908 declared Madison street as the official dividing line between the north and south sides of the city. The store sits on the south side of Madison. If the store had opened just 100 feet across the street, Target would have safely been in Cubs territory.

Not that it really matters since there are plenty of Cubs and White Sox fans who live and work on each other's turf. It's not as if Target would pick a building solely on the basis of baseball loyalties. And some people believe the real North/South divide belongs someplace else.

Still, Target has tried hard to position CityTarget as neighborhood stores with strong ties to the community. And a few people did notice the contradiction, said Brian Kelly, a Chicago-based retail consultant.

Right now, the CityTarget sells more Cubs merchandise than White Sox products. In any case, both teams have losing records and are unlikely to make the playoffs.

In recent months, though, the Cubs and White Sox have ceded considerable shelf space to another Chicago team: the Blackhawks of the National Hockey League, which recently won the Stanley Cup Championship.

So it seems in Chicago retail, geographic loyalties don't matter so much as winning pedigrees.