A new, bigger Target is coming to North Texas, and it’ll be unlike any you’ve seen
Target appears to have plans to build a $22.7 million store in North Texas that will likely be the region’s first example of the retailer’s new, bigger design concept.
A Target spokesman told the Star-Telegram that the company had no “new store news to share at this time.” But a business filing with the state reveals that Target intends to start construction this fall on what will be one of the biggest Targets in North Texas.
Where will the new Target be in North Texas?
The store will anchor a new mixed-use development in Denton, according to the filing with the state of Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. The location, 2755 W. University Drive, is just east of the Interstate 35 interchange, on the south side of University Drive near a WinCo Foods grocery store and In-and-Out Burger.
This would be the second Target in Denton, along what is a fast-growing corridor of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex with new development up and down I-35.
But it will likely be the first in North Texas to feature elements of Target’s new store design, announced last fall.
How do we know? For one thing, the new design is much larger than existing Targets.
Targets are typically 125,000 square feet. The new Denton store will be more than 149,000 square feet, according to the filing. By comparison, the Target built in 2015 in Presidio Towne Crossing near Alliance in Fort Worth is 123,000 square feet.
Target has said that starting this year, more than half of its expected 200 full-store remodels and nearly all 30 planned new builds will feature elements of the redesign. In 2024, the concept will be included in all remodels and new stores.
The new Denton store is projected to open in late summer 2024.
So what will the new Target look like?
One of the most noticeable changes is more light. New Targets will have larger windows allowing for more natural light, instead of the windowless stores shoppers are used to.
New Targets also will have plants and use regionally sourced reclaimed wood in the construction design. Target is tailoring store designs to reflect the community it serves, such as native landscaping to localized product offerings — a concept that sounds similar to H-E-B’s strategy of tailoring its grocery stores to each market.
New Targets also will have expanded food and beverage selections and displays of exclusive brand partnerships, as well as “built-in sustainability” elements such as natural refrigerants and rooftop solar panels with a company aim of net zero emissions by 2040.
The retailer says its new store designs were tested using virtual reality. The company created life-sized virtual models of its “reimagined” store to help refine and iterate the customer experience.
Texas already has an example of this larger, updated store design, but you’d need to drive to Katy to see it, near Houston.
The Denton store isn’t listed yet on Target’s “coming soon” page, but four others in Texas are, including a 111,000-square-foot store in Dallas at Wynnewood Village, and a 140,000-square-foot store in Prosper north of Frisco.
This story was originally published May 3, 2023 at 10:08 AM.
