Talk about missing the bullseye. Target is closing its doors in Richmond after a rather pathetic 14-month attempt to woo customers with the promise of unique products at discounted prices.
Target delivered neither and Lansdowne Centre is now tasked to seek out a fourth anchor tenant in its southeast corner after Eaton’s and Zellers also closed shop.
Target failed to respect the common sense of Richmond shoppers who are still a 45-minute drive to its American store in Bellingham.
According to findings released this week from a 2014 BrandSpark study of Canadian shoppers, 77 per cent of shoppers like trying new products, 92 per cent feel proud when they get value for money and 76 per cent are making changes to be healthier.
Target failed to meet any of those goals and the sales reflect that, but enough about the past. The question now is what will replace Target, both in the short and long term.
In the short term — well, it’s anyone’s guess.
When we look 30 years out, though, questioning who will be situated where in the mall might seem like who’ll sit where on the Titanic. The city has big plans for the area and you can rest assured they include a huge number of condos mixed with commercial and retail outlets — think Yaletown. And that might not be a bad thing. If densification happens anywhere, it should be along the Canada Line corridor.
That said, 30 years is still a long way out. In the meantime, you can bet Walmart is looking forward to having one more competitor out of the ring.
