New West Coast Target is like a mini-Greatland - Palmdale, California - includes related article - The 'Great-Landing' of Target

Discount Store News, Dec 9, 1991 by Don Longo

Target's largest store on the West Coast opened here Oct. 13 in a small, but fast-growing city at the southwestern edge of the Mohave Desert.

Palmdale, Calif., along with its sister city of Lancaster nine miles to the north, experienced a population explosion in the mid- to late-'80s as Los Angelenos were drawn to its more affordable housing.

The median price of a home in Palmdale is $114,000, compared to $250,000 in Los Angeles, said William Warford, city editor of the Antelope Valley PRess, based in Palmdale Warford estimated that 40,000 people commute 50 miles a day to Los Angeles from the Antelope Valley--a dry region bordered by Edwards Air Force Base to the north and the Tehachapi Mountains on the west.

The average income in the valley is $36,000 for heads of households, and the population mostly consists of American whites with a growing Hispanic community.

Indicative of the growth of the area, the new Target--estimated at over 120,000 sq. ft.--is located across the street from a year-old regional mall containing Sears, JCPenney and two full-price department stores. A sign in Target's parking lot announces the pending arrival in the strip center of Montgomery Ward, T.J. Maxx and Phar-Mor.

In addition, Wal-Mart chose Palmdale as the site for its largest general merchandise-only store in the country (see DSN, Nov. 4, page 1), which opened in August. The experimental, 143,000-sq.-ft. Wal-Mart is just down the road from the new Target, which itself represents a major new direction for the upscale discounter and California's dominant retailer.

Target now has more than 56 stores in the Greater Los Angeles market, and over 102 in the stage. Target plans to operate 140 discount stores in California by 1995.

Target Palmdale is essentially a scaled-down version of Target's first 169,000-sq.-ft. Greatland store, which opened last September in Apple Valley, Minn. The new California store features Greatland's signature neon wave, that wraps the store in red, yellow and green light, color-coordinated to departmental signage. And the easily readable departmental signs, with a color-coded bar beneath bold sans serif lettering, also emulate Greatland's signage.

As at Greatland, every effort is made to produce a pleasing shopping experience. The customer service desk is called "Guest Services" and a bar code reader at a centrally-located courtesy center allows shoppers to view prices on unmarked merchandise.

From a merchandise point of view, the store contains several focal areas, like a seasonal gift department called "In the Living Room," where related merchandise is brought together for cross-merchandising.

Compared to a typical Target store, this new prototype has an airier feel, an enhanced snack bar (called Food Avenue) and expanded hardware, automotive and sporting goods departments. A pharmacy was due to open in November.

     Palmdale, Calif.
1990 Population
City:                   17,706
Cty/PMSA:           9.2 million
Market Competition
(includes Lancaster)
Chain (No. of stores)
Kmart                       (3)
Target                      (2)
Wal-Mart                    (2)
Costco                     (1)
Marshalls                   (1)
Sears                       (1)
Ward                        (1)
  Source: DSN research