World’s second-smallest Target opens in Minnesota

HIGHLAND PARK, Minn. — The world’s second smallest Target, a TargetExpress, will open in St. Paul, Minn.’s Highland Park neighborhood.

The 16,000-square-foot store, which opens July 22, will feature a pharmacy and cater to a community of families, empty nesters and college students, the Grand Forks Herald reports.

“Target did a really nice job of talking to the community and finding out what the community needed so that when we open, we have the right items on the shelves,” Mandee Handrahan, the store’s team lead, told the Grand Forks Herald.

The store will contain an organics section — the first of its kind at a TargetExpress — in addition to other wellness-oriented items, like water bottles, yoga mats and kosher items. It will also include two clothing aisles, sporting goods, small electronics, school supplies, a small selection of home décor, cleaning supplies and jewelry.

Target’s smallest store, another TargetExpress, is located in San Francisco and covers 12,000 square feet.

Target is embracing the small store model in order to reach more customers in urban areas.

“More and more ... Target has (seen) people moving to urban centers, whether it’s families, empty nesters, millennials… We are trying to meet the needs of guests living in those locations,” Erika Winkels, a Target spokesperson, told the Grand Forks Herald. “I think we’ll see more and more of these flexible format stores in the future.”

The company plans to open five more express stores across the country by the end of 2015.