As big-box brands such as SuperValu, Target and Walmart are rolling out scaled-down brand extensions—often in urban environments—others such as Kohl’s and Best Buy have announced similar plans for smaller stores.
We’ll delve into this trend at IRDC, with Growing Your Brand Smaller, a panel discussion featuring moderator Joe Bona of CBX and panelists Eames Gilmore of Target, Sharon Lessard of SuperValu and Kevin Ruehle of Walmart. As a preview to the session, Eames Gilmore discusses Target’s approach to smaller-format store design:
IRDC: What factors are contributing to the downsizing trend for Target?
EG: We are looking for more central downtown core opportunities to serve our urban guest. This requires us to be flexible with our store planning to fit into more unique and potentially smaller existing buildings. Our typical suburban floor plans are about 135,000sf and we are now looking at floor plan size options in the 85,000sf -120,000sf range, which allows us greater flexibility to fit into more developments.
IRDC: Target has made news with its CityTarget format, including the one under construction in San Francisco’s Metreon space and another in Chicago’s historic Carson Pirie Scott & Co. building on State Street. How do you approach the design of stores in landmark spaces such as these?
EG: Our approach with the State Street store is to preserve the great design of Louis Sullivan and blend with the historic building aesthetic while laying out the floor plan to maximize flexibility. Our design keeps all the beautiful ornamentation and façade materials intact, incorporates all three existing street entries into the store plan and integrates the large street windows with open views to the merchandise and activity in the store.
IRDC: Aside from the obvious differences in scale and depth of product
offering, what are the hallmarks of a CityTarget store?
EG: Our goal is to provide a conveniently located intuitive guest shopping experience to serve the needs of the urban guest from grocery to apparel and household merchandise. More central downtown core locations will save our urban guest from traveling to the suburbs, and allow them to shop at Target more often to meet their household needs.
IRDC: What are the
biggest challenges in store design and visual merchandising within a tighter
format?
EG: Challenges include encountering more existing-building physical obstructions such as large columns, mechanical shafts, stairs, lower ceilings and large expanses of glass that you typically do not see in suburban ground-up formats. Our flexible planning approach takes all these constraints into consideration while still achieving a convenient, intuitive and easy-to-shop guest experience.
Other challenges can be site-related such as access to service deliveries, parking and mass transit integration, and loading stock onto freight elevators to serve multiple store levels.
