March 5, 2008
The Target is Open! The Target is Open!
And, yeah, it pretty much looks exactly like a Target, although it's definitely big -- two full stories of bulk purchasing opportunities. We snapped these photos this morning at the brand new Columbia Heights store, which opened for business at 8 a.m.
While walking through the section of the store that sells groceries, we couldn't help overhearing one woman exclaim, "This is incredible!" There's no produce and the selection is limited compared to a full grocery store like the Giant across the street, but one could do a large amount of their food shopping in this Target.
All the job application kiosks were full at around 9:45 a.m.
By 10 a.m., the store already had a large number of customers.
At the check-out lines, things were moving along at a good pace. The cashier who rang up our items was friendly and seemed excited to be there. She did have to ask a supervisor a question at one point, but that's hardly notable on opening day.
The new Target in Columbia Heights is located at 3100 14th St NW. It's open Mon.-Fri.: 8 a.m.-10 p.m., Sat: 8 a.m.-10 p.m., and Sun: 8 a.m.-9 p.m. The pharmacy is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mon.-Fri., and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sat.-Sun.
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YES! It has a special escalator for the carts!!!!
I don't know what my fascination is with that, but I really love them.
I can't decide if big-box stores downtown are a good thing or a bad thing... even if they're revitalizing a community, is it at the expense of actual community or will it actually bring vitality?
sure looks target-y!
blah blah, gentrification blah blah.
you actually ARE (kind of) liveblogging the target opening!
now, let's see, where do we all want to send sommer next, folks? i hereby declare that dcist is now commenter controlled.
mutiny!
Cue half-assed debate about neighborhoods, race, class, etc. in 3... 2... 1...
i have a similar snapshot of cart escalators from the Target in Metarie, Louisiana from 2002
I've never really understood the "Target is coming and that's bad for poor people in the neighborhood" argument.
Target is pretty much by definition low cost shopping. How is this a bad thing?
Cool. The only thing missing is a guy out front selling AA batteries out of a napsack.
I like Target, their support of the arts is pretty bad ass.
I have fond memories of fondue fountains at the Sufjan show at the Kennedy Center.
hey, it could be a WalMart
I love the smell of commerce in the morning!
Hillman - it's bad because the local businesses that have served columbia heights for all these years will be swallowed up - they are the romans and target is the red sea
or it's bad because pompus, self-righteous asshats need something to bitch about instead of realizing this neighborhood was a complete craphole for decades before the development came
you pick the reason
I have no idea where this new Target is, can someone clue me in? Also, what's the parking situation; do they have a massive lot or is going to be a parkingcaust on the streets of CH?
I have a bad feeling that it's still going to be more convenient for me to go to Potomac Yards for my mass toiletries and cheap kid's clothes purchases.
Aren't there enough targets in the District already?
Do they carry fois gras?
And I'm pretty sure it was the Egyptians that got swallowed by the Red Sea, if by "Red Sea" you mean "Nina Hartley."
I live in the shadow of a big-box retailer. I came all the way from Indiana for this?
Bleh.
And by that you mean 0 was enough? Because this makes 1.
I'm happy because now I can walk to Target. Although since I'm incapable of walking out of a Target without spending at least $100, I'm not completely sure how I'll get it all home. Think they'll have "courtesy drivers" like the Giant?
I pick reason 2. I remember the 'retailers' in Columbia Heights from my last ill-advised wander up that way.
I agree also with Rat. It's still a lot easier for me to go to Potomac Yards.
That's not the way it happened in History of the World Part I!
And by that you mean 0 was enough? Because this makes 1.
Tell that to the evil-doers.
Yeah, for the hill folks, potomac yard would be closer.
Wonder how long it'll be before this DCUSA TARGET starts to look like the Potomac Yards TARGET.
You know, ratty entry carpet, dirty, and disorganized... full of employees that can't speak a lick of English (or Spanish).
Wonder how long it'll be before this DCUSA TARGET starts to look like the Potomac Yards TARGET.
You know, ratty entry carpet, dirty, and disorganized... full of employees that can't speak a lick of English (or Spanish).
Said Target is depressing conveniently located to me. But I won't be using it. They continue to allow their pharmacists to refuse birth control, including but not limited to emergency contraception.
www.plannedparenthood.org/newsroom/press-releases/pharmacy-refusal-10325.htm
hillrat: it's at the CH metro stop. you'll see it as soon as you get out of the metro.
there's an underground parking garage, but why don't you just take the metro instead?
hillrat: it's at the CH metro stop. you'll see it as soon as you get out of the metro.
there's an underground parking garage, but why don't you just take the metro instead?
Why should the those who live in the city be forced to pay top dollar for general things like diapers, baby formula, clothes, small electronics, medicines, food, tp etc.? Target has a prescription drug plan similar to Walmart's that will be a great benefit to the elderly in DC. Smug middle class and upper middle class myopic people can assert that Target in the city is bad but from what I see it is great. Stop being selfish and realize that there is a great diverse population in this city who will greatly benefit from this type of store. Jobs and additional sales tax revenue are added bonuses.
Target upon agreeing to open in Columbia Heights started to pour money into the DC community. They built a beautiful new Library at Bancroft elementary school in NW and another school in NE whose name escapes me at the moment. Why should the burbs get all of the benefits?
No one is stopping naysayers from trekking out to VA or MD to shop but please stop complaining.
Does Homeland Security know about this MAJOR TARGET located in the CENTER of WASHINGTON???
Get in now, because if it's anything like the PY store, the opening is the last time the store will bother to stock its shelves.
To those who are considering visiting Target form outside of the neighborhood:
Please, please, PLEASE Metro. I can't stress this enough.
Someone had the bright idea of narrowing Irving to TWO lanes, and from today onward, Irving will become a six-block-long parking lot.
The Target in Springfield has the same cart elevator (don't ask).
Yes, the Target in Potomac Yards is an over-crowded shit hole but if you take the price stickers off the items they let you name your own price.
From my perspective, I actually don't think the DC area has enough Targets. I don't have a car and the only Target that's remotely Metro accessible is the one at the mall in Wheaton. This one is going to be a godsend for me. I'm totally waking up early this Saturday to go pay homage.
From my perspective, I actually don't think the DC area has enough Targets. I don't have a car and the only Target that's remotely Metro accessible is the one at the mall in Wheaton. This one is going to be a godsend for me. I'm totally waking up early this Saturday to go pay homage.
there's an underground parking garage, but why don't you just take the metro instead?
You've obviously never lugged two weeks worth of diapers and a screaming two-year-old on the Metro before.
The Target in Springfield has the same cart elevator (don't ask).
Yes, the Target in Potomac Yards is an over-crowded shit hole but if you take the price stickers off the items they let you name your own price.
There's a Tar-ghetto on Rockville Pike that has the cart escalator/ramp thing. Sort of cool I suppose! Great to have this new Target only blocks away instead of draggin my butt to VA...one less reason to go to VA is a always a good thing.
elly25 -- the target at prince george's plaza is VERY metro accessible. it's about equidistant from the station as the one in wheaton.
this new one wins the battle for distance from front door to faregate by far though.
Uh, there's a Target at Prince Georges Plaza and it is closer to Green Line DC residents than the one in Wheaton.
I like the prince george's target. The lines are atrocious, but like that's any different at any District area retail store. I never have problems finding anything there unlike ahem, Giant on 9th and P.
Speaking of Giant, I'm going to miss getting in and out of 14th Street Giant like a breeze*. And the parking.
*breeze as in faster than 9th Street Giant, but then again every line is faster than the ones at 9th street.
Will this Target have one of those Minute Clinics that are trying to open up in some CVS stores? Something like that would seem to be a great option for local residents.
there's an underground parking garage, but why don't you just take the metro instead?
Mostly 'cause when I'm going to Target I'm going to load up on bulky items (like TP and paper towels) or semi-heavy kind of stuff (like soda and batteries) that is pain to transport on the Metro and then schlep home from the Metro station. Now add a 3 year-old and an extra 40 minutes of travel time (each way) to that equation and I think you see why I'm asking about parking.
I saw the invite only thing happening last night and heard rumors of soft opening today. I'm glad it's true. I was going to drive out to the other one tonight. woo hoo!
as in faster than 9th Street Giant, but then again every line is faster than the ones at 9th street.
Yeah but does the 14th St. Giant sell beer and wine until midnight every night?
Someone had the bright idea of narrowing Irving to TWO lanes, and from today onward, Irving will become a six-block-long parking lot.
On the other hand, the sidewalks along Irving heading west from the Columbia Heights Metro have been standing-room-only (as in, don't bother trying to actually move forward) since even before the DCUSA development began, so I'm all in favor of widening that sidewalk.
That sidewalk west on Irving was pretty dicey for a while - no space, no lighting (!) plenty of blind spots for crooks to hide in (!!!). I welcome the increase of foot traffic this is sure to bring, but did they really need to widen the sidewalks at the expense of 50% of the damn street?
I will probably drive to the new Target, simply becuase I live on the redline and four very far blocks away from the nearest metro station. I also don't feel like lugging TP, paper towels, and other bulky items on the metro. I can only imagine what's that like on weekend afternoon. Spending 15-20 minutes at Gallery Place or Fort Rotten so I can transfer on to a green or yellow line train... how wonderful, not.
Fort Rotten
That's a good one. I always say "Fart Tootin". When I still lived in PG, my daily commute meant transferring at the Tot, and it was the worst. There's something about its orientation in relation to the other Green Line stations that ensures one will wait either 2 minutes or 18 minutes for the next train. No middle ground.
"Get in now, because if it's anything like the PY store, the opening is the last time the store will bother to stock its shelves."
Ohm, the store is restocking; they just can't restock fast enough to refill the items stolen off the shelves..
I believe the term is "shrinkage." That is, the difference between what was sold and what's supposed to be in inventory. (See the Rhode Island Avenue Home Depot. At one point they were losing close to $10,000 a month to shrinkage.)
I wouldn't be surprised if there was a guy behind the new Target RIGHT NOW trying to sell plasma teevees out of the trunk of his car.
The only good thing I could see coming out of this is the closing the rathole of a CVS that is across the street. That, and not having to drive to rockville to buy a gas can.
Couldn't care less about the Target. What's the word on Five Guys, Best Buy and Potbelly?
Any word on the traffic apocalypse that some were predicting?
I'm just waiting for that Julia's Empanadas to go ahead and open up.
"...one less reason to go to VA is a always a good thing."
In your case, I agree. We put that river there to keep riff-raff like you out.
"I'm just waiting for that Julia's Empanadas to go ahead and open up."
Seriously. If they had one of those in Arlington, or anywhere near Metro Center, I would be eating there way too often.
Last word on Best Buy was that their stock is diving on reduced demand for consumer electronics. They still plan on opening stores (because they're taking customers from Circuit City), but those would be in markets already being served by Circuit City.
Screw Five Guys! Where the hell is DC's Counter Burger?
honestly, what is the argument against replacing a blighted stretch of vacant lot eyesore, the scars of the '68 riots, with mixed-use retail and housing? if CH residents rioted again and burned it all down would people be happy?
Ok. this new Target sucks, I was in tonight and was shopping fine and dandy, then I asked one of the employees where the contact solution was and she was such a bitch! she said, we are closed so im not telling you where it is. WHAT A WHORE, then she said that I couldnt get anything even though i was in there half an hour before it closed. This target has some of the worst employees and people and they charge way too much. Fuck this target!!!!!!
Okay, so I finally made it down to the new Target. I know it's a box store and it looks just like every other Target, but I for one am psyched to have quick shopping in walking distance. I hate having to drive or metro just to pick up little things.