This October, Target opened eight of its new small-format stores, the most noteworthy being a new 60,000 SF location at University Mall in South Burlington, Vermont. As Target’s exclusive representative, Atlantic Retail procured and negotiated the transaction on the retailer’s behalf.
The South Burlington store opening is the culmination of more than 10 years of efforts to find a suitable location in Vermont. After previous, larger-scale proposals had fallen through, Target began to focus on Vermont as an option for its Flexible Format program. The program offers the same variety and brand experience people have come to expect from Target but in a more efficient & compact layout. As with all Target Flexible Format stores, the assortment is curated for the local market.
“We’ve listened closely to our partners and elected officials to understand what they wanted most from their local Target store and tailored the experiences to serve local guests’ needs,” said Jim Hogan, group VP of Target’s New England stores.
The store replaced a former Bon-Ton location and will anchor a revitalization of the University Mall, which also opened a new H&M store this month.
While the Vermont opening is the most notable, Target opened two additional Flex Format stores in New England in October bringing the program’s store count to 85 nationwide. They opened in Cambridge at the Porter Square Galleria, supplementing their existing Cambridge store in Central Square. A new Flex Format location also opened in a former Roche Brothers supermarket in Burlington, MA, another market that had stumped Target for years before the Flex Format solution.
