Target is open for customers in downtown Bethesda, offering many of the same amenities of the company’s traditional stores but in a smaller space.
Beginning with a soft opening Wednesday morning, customers can now patronize the Shops of Wisconsin store at 6831 Wisconsin Ave. The store will host an official grand opening April 9.
Diana Keeler, store team leader at Target, said the “flex-format” store, which spans two floors in a 35,000-square-foot space, is smaller than most of the company’s traditional stores but still larger than other urban stores in the area.
“While it’s still considered a flex-format store, guests will be able to find pretty much anything they would find in a regular Target store,” she said. The aisle space is a bit more compact and there are fewer checkout stations than a traditional store.
The store sells groceries, clothing, shoes, home supplies, tech products, sporting goods, beauty products, party supplies, toys and games. The store also features a Starbucks, a CVS pharmacy and two fitting rooms.
Keeler said the location’s offerings were specialized for the Bethesda area, with a grocery section larger than most Targets to allow for grab-and-go or family food shopping. The Bethesda store also has an “upper-scale” home assortment, she said.
There are a few products, mostly larger items, that the store doesn’t carry because of space constraints, she said. While some furniture is available, there are no futons for sale, for example. The availability of smaller items should also make it easier for shoppers who won’t necessarily drive to the store. Target shares the limited available parking, mostly located in a small garage behind the building, with Trader Joe’s and other shops in the center.
“A lot of our traffic we’re expecting to be on foot just because of how local everybody is, and just due to the nature of the parking situation—that’s a concern for a lot of people,” Keeler said.
The store is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.
Credit all photos: Joe Zimmermann
?Editor's note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the store is 3,500 square feet. It is 35,000 square feet. The story was been updated.
