TargetExpress prepares for Highland Park opening

Youthful red-shirted employees scurried around the TargetExpress store in St. Paul's Highland Park on Tuesday, stocking shelves in preparation for the store's July 22 opening. The store will be the Minneapolis-based retailer's fourth location of its newest and smallest store format as it looks to make a bigger push into cities.

Last summer, Target opened its first TargetExpress in Dinkytown near the University of Minnesota, followed by two that opened earlier this year in San Francisco and Berkeley, Calif. The Express format, about one-sixth the size of Target's suburban stores, is one of the company's strategies for growth as it has slowed down openings of big-box stores. The company plans to open five more TargetExpress stores later this year in Chicago, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

The 16,000-square-foot store in St. Paul is a bit smaller than the 20,000-square-foot one in Dinkytown. And it will cater more to families than college students. So instead of fan gear, this store has small baby, sporting goods and toy departments. Based on feedback from the ­community, it will offer organic produce and kosher items. It also will sell baked goods from the Cookie Cart, a nonprofit in north Minneapolis that works with teens. Kavita Kumar