CHS has written about the interdependence of Capitol Hill commerce with some of our neighboring areas like downtown — and, yes, Northgate. Come Wednesday morning, your trips to Northgate are, indeed, over. Starting at 7a, expect to see an increase in people carrying medium to large household items on the bus back up Capitol Hill from the new downtown City Targetopening at 2nd and Pike:
At the new Target store in downtown Seattle, you won’t find plastic backyard pools, large dining-room tables and dog-food bags that weigh as much as 20 pounds.
But you will find inflatable air mattresses, pub-style tables and 8-pound bags of dog food to save a little space.
Target, the mass merchandiser known for selling trendy-yet-affordable goods to suburban families, now has its sights set on a growing number of urbanites.
With the possibility of similar smaller “big box” retail eventually finding a home on the Hill relatively slim, the arrival of Target downtown could provide a more convenient answer for thousands of Capitol Hill residents looking for a wider selection of things like laundry baskets than they can find at an on-Hill provider like the Broadway Market QFC.
The new downtown Target will feature clothing, health products, electronics and home furnishings. It also is remarkable for its addition of a grocery store to downtown — as well as being a large retail plan that managed to be completed despite the choppy waters following the global recession. A plan for a JC Penny store downtown was scuttled during the same period. The Target will also likely feature more than a few Capitol Hill residents among its force. The giant chain came to Capitol Hill earlier this year for a job fair to hire more than 400 workers.
In a dataset that we can all agree is getting a little wilted, CHS shared the results of a 2008 Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce study that showed that Capitol Hill residents were much more likely than residents in the rest of Seattle to travel to Northgate for their shopping needs. While the mall and other retail is certainly a draw to the area, anecdotes seem to target the Hill’s shopping focus with Target. Add a downtown Apple Store and you might keep Hill people from having to visit University Village, also.
Having taken the bus from Capitol Hill to Target in Northgate many times, it’s very exciting to have one right downtown. (I work downtown as well).
I got an invite to preview the store tonight and very excited to see what all they have to offer in a smaller store. Welcome City Target!
Yes, where is the downtown Apple Store? We need that too.
I have been looking forward to this store since the first CHS post on the new Target location two years ago.
I’ve really appreciated the mega-ultra-QFC for housewares that I can’t find elsewhere on the Hill, but sometimes there’s stuff only Target has.
Is there any parking at the new Target?
Thank gawd! It was such a burden to drive all the way to Northgate to buy my low-quality inexpensive household knick-knacks. Now I don’t have to go to the thrift store to find those same items – I can pay full retail price. And those dang local independent businesses with their quality made durable goods…pshaw!! If it doesn’t fall apart and need replacement in a short period of time, it’s not for me.
I need it cheap, and I need it now.
I want a store where the employees are miserable, where the money goes to those who deserve it – the shareholders, not the “local community”.
And right in the hub of downtown tourist activity! Now all the visitors to downtown Seattle can buy hip urban Seattle souvenirs at Target to take back home.
Take that, Pike Place Market shops!
Thank you, Target: for your convenience, and for making Seattle just a little bit trashier.
I think it is fantastic that we no longer have to go all the way to Northgate or Bellevue to find a big box store to bitch about.
As someone who’s a bit snobby about what’s built on Cap Hill (Panera needs to go!) and prefer that most national chains stay out of our ‘hood, I must concede having easy access to Target is a huge plus for me!! There are a lot of things they sell that although sold elsewhere, Target will have a more expansive selection. And…the fact the new Target will be close by while still not on The Hill is a win-win.
It must be nice to never consume inexpensive products made by large corporations, to only purchase local produce, and to never consume oil. I’ll bet you’ve got a shirt hanging in your closet that was made by a child somewhere in Asia. Get over yourself.
Actually there has been a real grocery store downtown for a few years now–Kress IGA Supermarket. And it’s only a couple of blocks from CityTarget on 3rd in the basement of the Kress building (where JC Penney was going to go). It’s not huge–more the size of City Market–but it is a real downtown grocery store nonetheless.
Score!
Take your reusable bags or backpacks or I guess they’ll be charging for the plastic bags. I’m one of the people who has (tomorrow it will be that I used to have) to make the trip to Northgate for soap, shaving cream, socks, vitamins, etc. and I normally took my backpack but when I did get a Target plastic bag I’d reuse it as a wastebasket liner. I’ve been using a large Target bag as a laundry hamper for two years now. And how will the parking be? Is there a garage in the new Target? Being downtown I’m guessing it’s not free but validated. Anyone know?
All you losers worried about parking: Get over yourself! This is about having a convenient place nearby that you can walk, bus or bike to. If you are seriously driving here and parking, seriously go elsewhere.
This is great, QFC is very overpriced in comparison to Target. I’m looking forward to the savings!!
Yes, plenty of “bike storage” in the garage, according to the Times.
First hour is free with a $20 purchase.
Now that this new target is opening it means that Northgate will no longer be as picked over.
As convenient as the new one will be, I will still end up shopping at the Northgate location.
ImaLocal –
I sure hope you didn’t post this comment from a computer. Because you might realize there aren’t locally made computers. Also, I really hope it wasn’t an Apple. They have entire campuses in China where people aren’t allowed to leave at will. (But it’s a small price to pay a premium to be cool).
The world isn’t that black and white – no one can shop entirely local.
Where did you get your locally made computer that you typed this bull crap on?
The signs on the store have a different date (July 28 I think)? what’s the dealio?
Kress has to be at least 4 times as big as City Market. It’s probably just about the same size as the QFC on 15th.
go buy your cheap housewares at the Capitol Hill QFC, or one of CapHill’s dollar stores. You’ll find that almost absolutely everything is made in China anyway. So what’s the difference where you buy it?
So in other words, you’re saying those lofty standards are easily forgotten now, especially since access to cheap goods doesn’t involve a quick drive or bus ride– and since it’s not in your backyard?
And prices are as high as adding City Market and QFC together.
It’s been several years since I was in a Target store. How is it any diffrent from Bed, Bath, and Beyond? Clothing and TV’s?
Target sells my mouthwash for $3.99 and the mega Broadway QFC sells it for $6.49.
It is funny how Target is welcomed because it is “Cheaper” than the QFC who you hold a higher standard of living to make your hood liveable. I want options but I do not want chains. I want convenience but I do not want to pay for it, I want to live in a neighborhood that thousands want to live in but I do not want to pay for it, I love and feel entitled to having options but those who bring them in are not welcome but Target is just down the hill and it makes living on the hill without a car that much better.
I live here so I am entitled to cheap high end options of organic origin but I want to get it on the cheap!
What about the local storefronts? what about the small local businesses, what about the HILL? I have only lived here for six months but development and growth has ruined everything. I have to wait a few years to take the train to U-Village to shop at H&M or to the airport to take my six month tour around Europe paid for by student loans or my parents who just do not understand my right.
Capitolhillseattle.com , do not try and placate to your audience that just because it is not directly included within the Pike/Pine Corridor it does not affect your hood.
The Target Downtown is just another example of I want, I want I WANT, I just dont want it under my overpriced Condo!
do you really feel like you need to drive downtown from Capitol Hill? you’re doing it wrong.
What independant, locally owned, or otherwise non-corporate chain stores on or near the hill actually sell a lot of the same stuff that target does? Mud Bay Granary is the only place I can think of that is locally owned (based in Olympia, named for the Actual Mud Bay) that could potentially loose business. Though I assume that the people whose kitty litter purchases are shifted to Target are probably those who already bought said kitty litter at QFC. Otherwise the places that may loose some business to the new Target seem likely to be places like the Broadway QFC (home decor stuff), Walgreens, Rite Aid, etc. Maybe Ross or Value Village, because it presents an additional place to get cheap clothes.
Personally I’m just happy to avoid having to haul myself up to northg
…to northgate the next time I need to buy a multi pack of underpants or a package of athletic socks.
(previous comment posted mid-sentence by accident)
Can you walk, bus or bike with a futon from downtown up to 15th? If so, I (and Lance Armstrong) could use some of what you’re taking. Target sells large pieces of furniture and some valuable electronics that we’ve all been warned not to be seen with at a bus stop. Is it smart to walk around Pike or Pine with a sealed laptop box under your arm?
For what it’s worth, I don’t have a car but I was just curious for when I need to get a ride with a friend and make a large purchase or 4 backpacks full of food, clothes and cleaning supplies.
Thanks to whatever marketing firm is inundating the CHS blog with positive comments every time there is a mention of Target. I really appreciate your endeavors to drive the american economy by siphoning the surplus of those who produce actual goods into your pockets by filling comment sections with treacle and fluff.
So because someone posts a comment that disagrees with you concerning some company, it MUST be a marketing push. Must be. Has to be. People living on the Hill can’t hold differing opinions than you. Never.
City Kitchen. 4th btwn Pike and Pine
For those of us who don’t work downtown, and have cars, Northgate is just as accessible (10 minutes at most from Capitol Hill), and the parking there is free (no $20 minimum required).
Ever heard of taxi cabs?
We didn’t need a Target. We don’t need a Target. But this country is sick… so yes, the masses will worship and celebrate this new place to unload what little money the 1% allows them, to buy cheap breakable crap that keeps the pyramid scheme going and keeps boatloads of cheap slave-labor produced goods filling our ports. Think of all the jobs! Except don’t forget all of the jobs you are getting rid of by having these mega chains. We have Pacific Supply, several drug stores and grocery stores, Kress market on 3rd, Uwajimaya in the ID, Rainbow Naturals for medicines/vitamins, a pretty decent Thrift by Cal-Anderson, and lots of other shops full of first and second hand goodies scattered all over our neighborhood. If you want a futon, cruise the alleyways at the end of any month and you’ll have your pick. Ya it might need a little repair. Every time you roll down to City Target to pick up some random consumable object you absolutely couldn’t live without, just remember you are destroying your neighborhood, your city, and the world with your actions. Maybe that sounds like an exaggeration, but it’s real… and the corporations are using you. So eat it up if you dare, its your world and you have to decide how to vote with your money to shape our future.
May as well be the first person to hire a chauffeured limousine for a trip to Target.
Seconding City Kitchens recommendation. Huge inventory, locally owned, beautiful, beautiful staff.