We all know that Target is set to arrive in Toronto next year.  While most of the locations will be in more suburban/residential parts of the city, there will also be at least one set to be a “CityTarget,” which was announced recently.  While there is no set or even estimated opening date, the announcement did indicate that it will be “somewhere downtown.”  According to some sources, it’s likely going to be near the lake.  It probably won’t, however, be taking over the current Winners spot at College Park, even though Marshall’s is opening just steps away.

The CityTarget store in Chicago, which opened in July 2012

While CityTargets are smaller than their suburban counterparts, the Winners store isn’t big enough.  The Chicago CityTarget, for example, is 100,000 square feet (according to a Retail Insider post), but this is on the larger side – this store carries groceries, while the Canadian stores (at least the first few batches) do not.  Typically, city stores average around 90,000 square feet, some 20,000 to 30,000 square feet smaller than suburban locations.  Obviously, they will be more city-friendly, and may even offer services that suburban locations don’t (see: Bed, Bath and Beyond).

Though convenience is very important to downtown dwellers, I’m not sure if I like the city to be super-saturated with big box stores.  Sure, Target is usually better than others, but I feel that that the chain has its place.  The downtown area in Toronto already has quite a few big box brands, including several electronics stores as well as home and fashion-related shops.  Do we really need any more?  I’d rather see a resurgence of old fashioned department stores.

 Image credit: Racked Chicago