Target workers returning to office, raising hopes of downtown economic kickstart

Hundreds of employees from Target’s headquarters are rejoining the commuting masses this week, a long-awaited move Minneapolis leaders hope will spark downtown’s commercial resurgence.

It comes the week of Target’s all-company meeting, which brings an annual surge in downtown traffic as managers from around the country gather for the three-day event at Target Center, Minneapolis Convention Center and other downtown locales.

The recovery in downtown Minneapolis has been uneven since the pandemic, said Adam Duininck, CEO of the Minneapolis Downtown Council.

Some parts of the North Loop and Washington Avenue “really haven’t slowed down,” he said. But certain parts of Nicollet Mall toward Target headquarters have remained relatively quiet, and the slow move away from work-from-home policies by the company that was once downtown’s biggest employer has matched the halting pace of the city’s attempts to revive its economic center since the pandemic.

Several downtown leaders were quietly elated in July when Rick Gomez, Target’s chief commercial officer, mandated a return-to-office schedule beginning this month, noting they‘ve been longing for the mega retailer to join U.S. Bank, Sleep Number and others that require more in-person work.

Ameriprise, for example, upped its in-office days from three to four this week.

The question is whether the skyways and restaurants start to bustle. “That’s when we know we’ll really be back to the place where we once were,” Duininck said.

No major downtown Minneapolis employer currently mandates five days of in-office work.

Before the pandemic, Target was downtown’s largest employer. It was usurped recently by Hennepin Healthcare, though the retailer reports around 7,100 employees are still assigned to its downtown headquarters.

Target employees outside its stores have largely worked from home across the U.S. The retailer announced in December 2023 it had asked employees to spend at least one week per quarter working downtown.

But individual teams at the Minneapolis-based retailer began getting called back to the office in June.

Target hasn’t changed its corporate policy, but incoming CEO Michael Fiddelke hasn’t shied away from talking about spending more time in the office.

Target workers come back to smaller quarters downtown; the company gave up its leased space in City Center, which is struggling compared to its occupancy before the pandemic.

Other office towers are being converted to residential mixed-use properties. And yet others are turning to smaller tenants, Duininck said.

He pointed to one downtown property, the Kickernick Building in the Warehouse District, where the owner went from a single tenant to nearly 50 tenants in about a year, many of them artists and small businesses. That building is now preparing for an art event expected to draw 1,000 to 2,000 people later this month, Duininck said.

Compared to where downtown was two years ago, “there’s been growth and steady improvement,” Duininck said.

This week’s Target Together meeting should bring a sea of red downtown as workers tend to wear the company’s signature color.

The closed-door meeting, which has gone by several names over the years, is usually centered on team-building with a lengthy lineup of guest speakers and activities.