Target ramping up presence, and testing new service, in Manhattan

Target Corp. is beefing up its presence in the Big Apple — and also testing a service to give city dwellers a break from lugging their purchases home.



The discounter announced plans to a smaller-format store on the city’s Lower East Side in March 2018. The 22,500-sq.-ft. store — one-fifth the size of a regular Target — will be on the second level of the Essex Crossing development, with more than 500 rental units above it. The mixed-use building will also include a Trader Joe’s.



Target opened its first small-format store in Manhattan in 2016, in the Tribeca area. The chain said it will soon start testing a same-day delivery service for in-store purchases from its Tribeca store to anywhere in Manhattan and to parts of Brooklyn and Queens. The service will carry a small fee.



The Lower East Side store will be Target’s fourth location in Manhattan, joining the Harlem, Tribeca and the upcoming Herald Square small-format store, slated to open in October 2017. Target has two other small-format stores planned for Manhattan, with one in the East Village, followed by one in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood.



“There’s no other place like Manhattan — it’s a thrill for us to be expanding here,” said Tony Roman, senior group VP of New York stores.



In addition, Target will open a second small-format store in Queens, in Jackson Heights. The 22,700-sq.-ft. store will be part of the new Shoppes at 82nd Street complex.



By the end of 2019, Target plans to operate more than 130 small-format locations nationwide.