Target opening on target

WASILLA — Shelving inside the new Target store in Wasilla was bare Tuesday as the store’s team leader, Scott Hayes, gave a tour and sneak peak inside the new big-box retail store.

Hayes, who was brought up from Seattle to manage the Mat-Su Valley Target, will be in charge of as many as 350 workers when the store opens Oct. 12. Until then, workers are busy putting the finishing touches on the store — which will include a Starbucks and Pizza Hut — ahead of an expected rush of customers when it opens.

On Tuesday, workers installed overhead lights, worked on the automatic doors and continued to prepare the store’s interior. Target only opens new stores in March, July and October, said Brie Heath, the company’s communications manager.

Target has been looking in Alaska for the past three to five years, spending its time making sure the site was right before committing to Wasilla, she said. With its location on the corner of the Palmer-Wasilla Highway and the Parks Highway, thousands of cars will pass Target each day, including a gaggle of tourists heading north during the summer.

The Valley’s rapid rise in population also piqued the interest of Target executives, Heath said. Target wanted to open in Wasilla while the population is on the “upslope.”

The Wasilla store will open simultaneously with a new Target going up in Anchorage, she said. The challenge is to educate locals unfamiliar with Target and its products ahead of the opening, Heath said.

“Not everyone in Alaska knows what a Target is,” Heath said.

That’s something advertising will take care of, along with Target’s already heavy presence at public events, she said. The store donated 3,000 ponchos for the Governor’s Picnic at Iditapark. Target also gives 5 percent of its income to local programs supporting education, the arts and social services.

Getting involved in the community as opposed to just moving in and trying to attract business is important to Target, Heath said, adding the Target stores in Alaska will be slightly different than their Lower 48 counterparts.

Stockrooms will be larger — an effort to keep stock on hand, just in case — swimsuits on the racks will be fewer and blackout shades will be a staple.

“It’s about figuring out the right balance of products,” Heath said.

Alaska-made products will also be scattered throughout the store, offering locals and tourists a chance to buy something authentic among the standard products available in Outside stores, she said.

When Target opens, it will have competition from other big-box stores, including Fred Meyer and Wal-Mart. Heath said the proximity of competitors doesn’t bother Target officials, adding the store is typically within three to five miles of its competition in the Lower 48.

Target officials are also counting on the store’s familiarity to tourists who might stop in to load up on supplies, Heath said. Those tourists will find prices higher than Outside Target stores because of the logistical challenge of shipping to Alaska. Products will either be flown in or shipped to the Port of Anchorage then trucked the rest of the way.

Even so, Target will offer another option for Valley residents looking to avoid a trip to Anchorage for specialized goods. It will also provide hundreds of jobs.

On Tuesday, a car full of people pulled to the front of the store, already inquiring about jobs at the outlet. Hayes, who began his Target career in 1999, said he plans to hire between 300 and 350 people to staff the store.

That’s where another challenge lies in one of Target’s first Alaska stores. Without a sister store, which Hayes said is common Outside, there is no established Target to train new workers. To combat this, the company will bring 60 Target executives from the Lower 48 to help train new employees in Wasilla.

Until then, Hayes said it’s a preliminary business as usual at Target. Product will start arriving the last week of August, he said. A couple months later, Wasilla’s next retail option will open.

Contact Michael Rovito at michael.rovito@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.