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A mini-Target store to go in Devon as second Main Line location

Target announced on Tuesday that it selected Devon for its ninth small format store in the region, and the second in the Main Line to be announced in recent months.

Target announced it will open a small format store in Devon that's planned to open this fall at 704 West Lancaster Avenue. It will be the ninth mini-Target store in the region and second in the Main Line.
Target announced it will open a small format store in Devon that's planned to open this fall at 704 West Lancaster Avenue. It will be the ninth mini-Target store in the region and second in the Main Line.Read moreTarget

Target announced on Tuesday that Devon will become the region's ninth location for its popular small-format store.

The new store for Devon Square Shopping Center is slated to open in October this year and represents the second Main Line location for a mini-Target. In mid-December Target announced that a small format store was being developed in Ardmore, near the intersection of Lancaster and Ardmore Avenues, with a planned July 2019 opening.

The Devon location at 704 W. Lancaster Avenue will join existing mini-Target stores at Rittenhouse Square, Washington Square West, Roxborough and Philadelphia Art Museum that have sprouted in the last year and a half. The Art Museum Target small store was the most recent to open in the city last October.

Four others are slated to open over the next 17 months at Spring Garden and Sixth Street to serve the Northern Liberties and Fishtown neighborhoods (July 2018 opening); at the intersection of West Cuthbert and MacArthur Boulevards in Haddon Township, Camden County (also opening in July 2018; a third one at Broad Street and Washington Avenue in South Philadelphia (to open in October 2018); and the Target for Ardmore.

"Philadelphia-area guests have given our small-format stores a very warm reception, and we look forward to providing even more guests with a customized and convenient, one-stop shop experience in Devon," said Mark Schindele, senior vice president, Target Properties, in a statement.

"We'll provide a curated assortment of groceries, beauty products, and more, as well as convenient pick-up point for online orders."

The smaller stores – less than half the size of a normal Target – and specifically catering to neighborhoods they sit in – are Target's strategic push into dense suburban neighborhoods, urban areas and near college campuses.

It's also part of the overall trend among big box retailers, such as Walmart and Lowe's, to follow population shifts among millennials and empty nesters, who tend to be car-free and prefer walking to do their shopping, into major downtown areas, according to retail experts.

Target is on track to operate 130 small-format stores across the country by the end of 2019.

The 57,640 square foot Devon store will employ about 60 workers and include a grocery section, beauty aisle, home décor, apparel, and the standard Starbucks and online order pick up counter found at other Target small format stores.

The mini-Target for Ardmore was announced in mid-December and slated to open in July 2019. The new one for Devon will make two in the city's Main Line.The 163,000 square foot Devon shopping center is located in Radnor and Tredyffrin Townships on Lancaster Avenue along the western portion of the city's Main Line. Among its anchors are a Rite Aid and Acme Markets.

"Target continues to execute against their regional and national strategy of focusing on smaller format stores with carefully curated products and services in high density markets," said  Steve Niggeman, an executive at Metro Commercial, who along with Metro CEO Tom Londres, represented Target in the transaction. "The new Devon location is perfectly situated to service the western Main Line customer and is a great complement to the recently announced Ardmore location on the eastern Main Line."