On Target

We live in an era in which big-box stores rule the retail scene. Target is the most intriguing big-box retailer today, as it is operates as a discount store with an upscale cachet. While I have yet to recognize any difference between the business models of Target and archrival Wal-Mart, I understand the dichotomy of perception that dictates public attitude towards the two chains. After all, I can gladly brag I don't shop at Wal-Mart while admitting that I wrote this post using a computer desk and leather chair I bought at Target.

Perhaps the paradox has something to do with store design. Wal-Mart seems to force its Supercenter prototype, a massive single-story structure exceeding 200,000 square feet with an even larger parking lot, onto communities large and small. Target, on the other hand, seems committed to fitting its more modest stores into the existing urban fabric.

In Redondo Beach, a suburban community within the "South Bay" of greater Los Angeles, Target recently opened a store that challenges the commonly accepted precepts of big-box design. The two-level structure contains both parking and retail space linked by an expansive atrium that Wal-Mart is not likely to imitate. Inside and out, the store represents a grandeur once exclusive to the "great" department stores of the 20th century while it presents a shopping environment fully attuned to consumer tastes of the 21st century.

On Sunday I had the opportunity to visit the Target in Redondo Beach. Please excuse the quality of this photo of the store and its atrium, as it was taken by my camera phone:

The following is a close-up shot of the distinctive tower marking the presence of this store. Note that the white-on-red Target logo contradicts the chain's own identity while reinforcing the perception of this unit as an exceptional "upscale" branch. It was also taken with my camera phone:

This store represents the innovative thinking that distinguishes Target from Wal-Mart and the rest of its big-box brethren. However, I question whether the exceptional design of Target's new units is enough to ensure that the chain can continue to insulate itself from the criticisms that have been lobbed against the state of modern retailing.