SuperT's next blitz: Atlanta

Discount Store News, March 17, 1997 by Richard Halverson

ATLANTA -- Target will make Atlanta in 1998 the third clustered test site of its SuperTarget concept, DSN has learned. That follows the unveiling of a SuperT cluster in Kansas City, Mo., this year and Salt Lake City in '96.

In metro Atlanta, Target is seeking approval in the Fulton County city of Roswell for the first of four SuperTs in the market. Last month, the Roswell Architectural Review Board rejected Target's first proposal for a 176,000-sq.-ft. SuperT on grounds that its design failed to fit into the 18th and 19th Century architectural standards for the special office park district in which it would be located, David Clabo, a Roswell planning and zoning official, told DSN.

Target's developer proposed gazebos and covered walk-ways to make the store design fit in, Clabo said, but the board wants more concessions. Target appealed the rejection and the Roswell city council will hear the appeal March 17. The site is located on Highway 82 and Hardscrabble Road.

Target is also seeking a site in southern Cobb County on Dallas Highway and Billera Road near Marrieta, said Terry Evarts, an economic development official for the county. Another potential Cobb County site is Austell.

In Gwinnett County, Target is negotiating for a site in the Gwinnett Place Mall, near Norcross, officials said. In addition, Target is seeking a second Fulton County site, possibly in Buckhead. All are affluent suburbs of Atlanta.

Meanwhile in the Midwest, Target is set to open the first of five SuperTs in the Kansas City market July 21 in the suburb of Olathe, Kan., west of the main city. In October, it will open another SuperT in Overland Park, Kan., also west of Kansas City.

Other SuperTs, all following the 180,000-sq-ft. proto-type, will be built next year in Independence, Mo., downtown Kansas City and the northside of Kansas City.

Target has also been adding to its Utah cluster of supercenters, opening two more SuperTs in Salt Lake City on top of the three it opened last year. The new stores are in Orem, Utah, near Brigham Young University (178,000 sq. ft.), and Riverdale (166,000 sq. ft.). They bring SuperT count to 10. Target may open one or two more in the Utah population centers close to Salt Lake City, among them a supercenter in Layton in October.

Prior to the Salt Lake City concentration, Target was scattering its SuperTs: one each in Indianapolis, Ind., Lawrence, Kan., and Davenport and Mason City, Iowa. A second SuperT was later added in the Indianapolis suburb of Papillon.

Target chairman and ceo Robert Ulrich has said in the past that he considers SuperTarget a test and will halt construction at 20 in order to evaluate the concept and decide whether Target belongs in the grocery business.

Completion of the Atlanta stores will bring Target close to that figure, probably in 1999. By then, Wal-Mart will be operating about 500 or more supercenters and Kmart will have more than 100. Already, Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Meijer and Portland, Ore.-based Fred Meyer operate more than 100 supercenters each.

Lacking food distribution centers, Target uses outside food suppliers for its SuperTargets, surrendering margin in the process.