Business

Target's last frontiers

Today Manhattan, next month Alaska. Target is opening new stores to make its presence felt everywhere -- but Vermont.

August 19, 2009 at 4:30PM

Target opened four “Bullseye Bodegas” around Manhattan, where it still doesn’t have a permanent store. The temporary stores are part of Target’s marketing push during New York’s Fashion Week. (Elliott Polk (Clickability Client Services) — Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The "bullseye" has landed in Manhattan -- temporarily -- but in a major way.

Minneapolis-based Target on Friday opened four pop-up stores in the New York City borough. They'll be open through Monday.

For Target Corp. the stores are its biggest push yet into New York's fashion week, and come before it opens its first permanent Manhattan store, possibly late next year, on 125th Street in the city's Spanish Harlem neighborhood.

The temporary spaces are called "Target Bodegas," in reference to small Manhattan convenience stores. These shops are filled with the wares of Target's 22 designer collaborations, including John Derian and Michael Graves for home, Sonia Kashuk for beauty plus shoes by Sigerson Morrison, handbags by Anya Hindmarch and clothes by Jonathan Saunders.

Target, which has had slumping sales for months as consumers have cut back on all but the essentials, is hoping that the designer rush will get its shoppers spending again. But analysts blame that high-end focus for part of its recent woes.

Wednesday night's invitation-only opening party featured a roped-off red-carpet area at the 57th Street bodega. It was timed for the middle of fashion week, when international media and retailers are spending eight days previewing collections for spring 2009.

Inside, false shelves are lined with painted boxes of "Target Frosted Bullseyes" and real packages of private-label paper towels and toilet paper. Designer goods were identified with handwritten "special" signs.

While browsing, partygoers sipped vodka and watermelon-juice cocktails, served in covered paper coffee cups, a staple of New York City delis.

Actress Michelle Trachtenberg snapped up a pair of Sigerson Morrison shoes. "They're my favorites," she said.

Actress Emmy Rossum noted that her favorite Go International Collection thus far was Behnaz Sarafpour's from the holiday 2006 collection.

The opening party was also filled with Target executives, including Trish Adams, senior vice president of apparel and accessories, and Keri Jones, senior vice president of health and beauty.

"Every event we do here takes on a whole excitement and buzz," Adams said.

Some guests said they're ready for a Manhattan store to open. "We're Target-starved," said Olivia Scott-Perkins, associate publisher of Vibe, who was considering three pieces from Jonathan Saunders' new line as she mingled. (The British designer put in a cameo appearance earlier in the evening.)

Manhattan is one of Target's last frontiers, which it will check off in quick succession in the coming year. In October it opens two stores in Alaska, until now uninhabited territory for the giant retailer. Next year it will open its first two stores in Hawaii. That will leave just one state, Vermont -- notoriously adept at keeping out big-box retailers -- without a bullseye presence.

"We are interested and always looking for opportunities in Vermont," spokeswoman Delia McLinden said.

Sara Glassman • 612-673-7177

A drawing of Target’s first permanent Manhattan store, planned for 125th Street in the Spanish Harlem neighborhood. The store is expected to open in late 2009 or early 2010, depending on the construction schedule. Manhattan is one of the places Target hadn’t already had a presence. (Elliott Polk (Clickability Client Services) — Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)