Target workers are painting the town red and filling downtown Minneapolis exit ramps this week.
Thousands of red-shirted Target corporate employees and store leaders from around the country are in downtown Minneapolis for the company’s annual fall meeting. The event coincides with one of the retailer’s quarterly, work-in-the-office “core weeks” for those who usually work in the Twin Cities.
On Tuesday, commuters likely noticed the traffic backups to get into downtown as well as long lines at parking ramps. Some downtown businesses were seeing an increase in foot traffic as a result.
“This morning we’ve been swamped with Target employees sporting red and tan,” said Justin Bedford, co-founder of Cardigan Donuts.
The donut shop, which has locations in the IDS Center and City Center towers, saw a large uptick Monday and Tuesday in walk-in sales and pre-orders using the shop’s skyway delivery service, with many orders going to one of Target’s three buildings or vendor offices, Bedford said.
Corner Coffee, which is across Nicollet Mall from the downtown Target store and close to Target’s corporate offices, was bustling Tuesday morning with customers with Target badges looking for caffeine fixes.
“It’s great to see so many Target people downtown,” said Greg Barber, the coffee shop’s co-owner.
Target employees have traditionally been a major part of downtown Minneapolis’ weekday population. But since the pandemic, many of its headquarters employees have worked from home as the company encouraged a hybrid work model similar to other corporate giants. Late last year, Target asked Minneapolis employees to start spending at least one week per quarter working out of its downtown offices.