Target Shutters Downtown Philly Location Citing "Declining Performance"

Not unlike many other corporations with retail locations in cities nationwide, Target is calling it quits on Philadelphia. They follow in the footsteps of Wawa, who we noted last year had enough of Philadelphia’s crime and also picked up and left shop at several locations in Center City.

Target, located just blocks from one Wawa that recently closed, is taking the same action, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal. Its store at 12th and Chestnut streets in Center City will be closing after 7 years of operation. 

The 19,000 sq. foot store is going to be closing “due to several years of declining performance”, the report says. The company plans on attempting to relocate its 45 part and full time employees at the store. 

Kayla Castañeda, a spokesperson for Target, commented: “The decision to close one of our stores isn’t something we take lightly. It’s an action we take only after multiple years of working to improve performance.”

Target is also going to be closing three other stores, one in its hometown of Minneapolis and two in the Washington, D.C., area, the report continued. The company is also looking to open a massive 22,000 sq. foot store near 37th and Chestnut – basically in the middle of U Penn’s campus – which will help it replace its presence lost in Center City. 

The Center City store had just opened in July 2016 as part of an apartment building, and its across the street from a brand new $762 million Jefferson Health facility that is nearing the end of construction. On the south side of the closing Target store, additional commercial and residential buildings are being erected.

But the influx of new buildings onto the block wasn’t enough for the company to want to keep its store open. In addition to Wawa stores that have closed, a Marshalls located at 10th and Market street – just blocks away from Target – also closed earlier this year.