Upstart Target sets out to be big shot in Florida - Jacksonville, Florida - includes related article - The 'Great-Landing' of Target

Discount Store News, Dec 9, 1991 by Laura Liebeck

The first car of customers arrived at 8:30 a.m., while the banjo players were warming up. They left moments later when they were told the store wouldn't open until 9 a.m., a half hour later than a local newspaper had published.

Disappointed but not angry about the glitch or having to wait to see the city's newest store, a handful of customers witnessed the ribbon-cutting ceremony and entered Target's new Jacksonville, Fla., store at 9 a.m. They were led by Shirley Teerlink of Jacksonville, and her mother Emma Maurer of Riverview, Fla.

"We're compulsive shoppers," laughed Teerlink, in response to a question on why they were shopping so early on a Sunday morning.

Upon entering Target's new Southside Boulevard store in a still developing retail area of the city, the women said they were eager to see Target.

"A Target opened in Tampa and my daughter [there] told me it's better than Wal-Mart and Kmart," said Maurer as she and Teerlink scanned the expansive 115,000-sq.-ft. store. "The clothes are better. We're going to be real Target shoppers," she added.

Few others visited the new store during the early morning hours of Oct. 13.

It was a slow start for Target's first store in this market of 969,000 people. The cashiers waited in a straight line in the aisle in front of their registers, eager to direct shoppers to their checkout stations. Until customers are ready to pay "we schmooze" them, said cashier Janet Meloy, who smiled broadly with anticipation in her new signature Target dress, red pullover and khaki pants.

The other new Jacksonville Target, located across the river in Orange Park, fared only slightly better during the pre-noon hours of grand opening.

But once early morning church services concluded, the stores started filling up. By mid-afternoon, the Southside Boulevard store had lines at every checkout. The Orange Park store was so crowded by 3 p.m. that some aisles--particularly in domestics, health & beauty care, Trim-a-Tree, and lawn and garden--were unpassable. There was gridlock at checkout, the store kept running out of shopping carts and people continued to apply for jobs.

To keep the atmosphere pleasant, employees handed out cookies and candy to sweeten the business of waiting in line. In fact, business was so good that the 3 p.m. reading put sales in Orange Park at $117,000, about $24,000 to $26,000 per hour.

Target entered the Jacksonville, Fla., market with two stores on a super Sunday opening schedule. A third store, in Regency Park, was delayed until November. All three stores were originally set to open in July, but were delayed due to the national banking problem that caused some builder financing delays, said district manager Bob Rojas.

Jacksonville is part of Target's push into Florida that will see the number of stores in the state soar to 50 by 1995. Currently, the chain has 24 stores in the state and will and 14 more in 1992, with no more planned for Jacksonville, said George Hite, vice president, public and consumer affairs.

Target is a latecomer to Jacksonville. Both Kmart and Wal-Mart have been here for several years, and together they offer shoppers 17 store locations in the metro area.

Dominating the market, however, is locally based PicN' Save, a 40-store chain with half its units in Jacksonville.

PicN'Save should not affect Target's such into Jacksonville because the local chain

    Jacksonville, Fla.
1990 Population
City/MSA: 969,038
Market Competition
Chain (No. of stores)
PicN'Save                    (20)
Kmart                         (9)
Wal-Mart                      (8)
Stein Mart                    (5)
Luria's                       (3)
Target                        (3)
Phar-Mor                      (3)
Toys 'R' Us                   (3)
Circuit City                  (2)
Lionel Play World             (2)
Marshalls                     (2)
Sam's Club                    (2)
Source: DSN research

appeals to a less affluent customer than does Target.

Stein Mart, also locally based, with four of its 45 stores in the market and one more on the way, also should be relatively unscathed by Target's presence. Stein Mart specializes in better apparel, accessories and gift items for middle-class, white collar types.

How Target will fare in this sprawling metropolis with its diverse and growing retail sector is something only time will judge. But if shopping patterns and consumer comments are any indication, the chain should settle in well.

Particularly strong selling departments on opening day were Trim-a-Tree, which Rojas termed "amazing," lawn and garden, toys and children's apparel.

In Trim-a-Tree, Target sold out of Santa's Marching Band, tree ornamentation featuring little soldiers on drums with ringing bells, priced at $79.99. Tree ornaments selling for as much as $12 and $13 sold "like crazy," he added.

Shoppers at both Target stores talked eagerly to DSN about the new retailer, applauding its clean, well-designed interior, breadth and quality of merchandise and overall pricing structure, although some shoppers found the prices high, and complained about a lack of special opening day sales.