Target

Target a day before their grand opening, October 10 2009. Rendering of future Davis Target. Image copyright Target Corporation 2006

Target is a large national discount retailer much like Wal-Mart. But unlike Wal-Mart, Target attempts to market itself as slightly hipper or more style-conscious. In general, Target is an affordable place to shop for basic home and wardrobe necessities.

Target hires designers to create the various lines of products that it sells. The core lines all use the same designer selected palettes, so the cardboard tissue box you buy today matches the towels you bought a couple years ago. The individual designers have their names and profiles presented when browsing in-house items. Wal-Mart, on the other hand, sells inexpensive goods vaguely targeted at middle America, thus imparting a semi-rural feel to their products and many (somewhat subtle) patriotic names for their inventory.

Target opened a store in Davis on 2009-10-07 at the Second Street Crossing shopping center near Mace Boulevard. Their "grand opening" was 2009-10-11. The store has 137,000 square feet of retail space, including a 10,000 square foot garden center. They will employ 208 people. There is a Pharmacy, and a licensed Starbucks Cafe staffed by Target employees trained by Starbucks inside the store. Starbucks such as these are often(cite?) nicknamed Tarbucks or Tarbux by former employees.

This store has been a source of local controversy for years. In a rare turn of events, even for Davis, the city council decided to put approval of the project to a public vote in 2006. The Target project appeared as Measure K on the November 2006 ballot and passed with 51.5 percent of the vote.

Many residents opposed the opening of a "big box store" in Davis for fear that it would harm smaller local businesses, especially those located downtown. Others worried that allowing a store like Target to be built would harm the small-town character of Davis. Nonetheless, the community decided that the ability to buy socks in town was worth the risk, and Target was born.

For more information on Target's local history, see History of coming to Davis.

There is also a Target in Woodland at 2185 Bronze Star Dr., just off 102, near Costco in the Gateway Shopping Center. The Woodland Target opened in a brand new building in July 2008. It moved from its longtime location in the County Fair Mall. The Woodland Target store includes a licensed¹ Starbucks and a pharmacy.

The store is located near the A bus line as well as the P/Q line. Yolobus 42 also stops at the same bus stops.

There is a Chase atm located inside of the store.(no deposit capability)

Building on a Superfund Site

Prior to the vote, it became known that the Target would be located on a EPA Superfund Site. But on December 22, 2008, The People's Vanguard of Davis reported that the Frontier Fertilizer Superfund Oversight Group (FFSOG) discovered a potentially new source of contamination at testing wells on the Target site. Trichloropropane (TCP) was detected in a sample taken just northeast of where the store would be, a location outside the current treatment area. The FFSOG argued that further sampling needed to be done in order to see if additional treatment was needed and, if so, who was responsible for it (depending on whether it was from a new source or the existing source). Target argued that the sample was a fluke, that they didn't have money for additional sampling, and that they would pour a slab for the store on January 5, 2009. On January 25, 2009, the Vanguard reported that the EPA agreed to do more testing to determine the source and extent of the contamination. As of that date, the slab had not yet been poured.

Building a controversial store

More Target Corporation controversy with local relevance

According to the Sacramento News and Review, "Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully and Yolo DA Jeff Reisig are suing Target Corporation for $9 million." Joined by California Attorney General Jerry Brown, the corporation is accused of local violations of environmental laws and illegal dumping. The article cites specific instances in Yolo County: "prosecutors allege that Target employees at stores in Yolo County disposed of “ignitable aerosols,” “explosive waste,” and “300 pounds of e-waste” in store trash compactors and sent it all to the Yolo County landfill in Woodland, which is off limits to all that stuff. That was just in February of 2009."

Comments:

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2007-07-15 10:53:54   Will target have solar pannels? —MattHh

• yes, it has solar panels on it roof. —SarahS
  

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2007-09-13 17:07:30   When did target become scenterish? —JamesSchwab

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2007-09-13 17:11:52   At least 100 years ago. —BrentLaabs

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2008-07-28 03:13:10   If target actually cared about having a green building, and aren't just using it as an terrible appeasement for the Davisite, why are they only making the building up to LEED's bronze standard (the lowest one)

If target really cared about green buildings they would have made it to the gold, or at least silver leed rating.

Hey at least they smashed the record for campaign donations that had just been broken with the measure X. Target spent nearly 4 times as much as the local developers did... And it comes down to less than 1000 votes... —StevenDaubert

• Dude, I think Target cares more about business than it does about the environment. No surprises there. —OS
  

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2008-08-15 12:07:17   Where are those people in the picture walking from? An imaginary light rail or streetcar station on 2nd Street? Where are all the cars and SUVS that will be filling up the clearly marked parking spaces? The only folks who are going to be within walking distance of this store are those Mace Ranch residents who overwhelmingly opposed it - and they would be approaching the store from the back. It almost looks like they lifted the people from a cover of "The Watchtower" and plunked them down to try to make the picture less depressing. —aharjala

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2008-09-04 03:48:46   finally, somewhere to shop that's close to campus.

I won't have to travel to Woodland or Sacramento just to buy household items at a decent price. —ThUn

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2008-10-25 13:45:43   I agree. I don't have a car so buying needed household supplies is a pain. Can't wait for this store to open —sweetsoni

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2009-02-28 16:15:01   So, they haven't even begun construction of Target, yet everywhere I've looked it said opening March 2009. Anyone know when the new opening is scheduled for? —EricaMacGregor

• From my understanding, the presence of the pollution was well documented, and part of the deal in allowing Target to build there was that they would be responsible for cleaning it up. If that's true, it really shouldn't have affected the construction time they proposed.—JoePomidor
  

• The store is on track to open in October 2009. —jsogul
  

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2009-03-01 10:40:48   "The 18-acre Frontier Fertilizer site is located near the eastern boundary of Davis, California. The Barber and Rowland Co. operated a pesticide and fertilizer distribution facility on the site from 1972 to 1982. The Frontier Fertilizer Co. used the site from 1982 to 1987. Both companies handled chemicals on the western 4 acres of the site. Operations consisted of storing, mixing and delivering pesticides, herbicides, and non-bulk chemicals in cans, drums, and other containers. Both the Barber and Rowland, and Frontier Fertilizer companies used a 4,000-cubic-foot former disposal basin in the northwest corner of the site to dispose of unused pesticides and fertilizers." http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/govinfo/news/frontier.php —DonShor

• The EPA Superfund Sites page doesn't have all the information, it would seem. —JoePomidor
  

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2009-09-02 16:09:42   "Others worried that allowing a store like Target to be built would harm the small-town character of Davis."

I have to say with a population approaching 70,000 Davis in reality is not that small. —dundas

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2009-09-10 13:03:21   Anyone know when the Davis Target is opening, exactly? (Something more precise than October?) —IDoNotExist

• I think that there is a sign on Interstate 80 at the east end of Davis with an exact day but of course I don't recall anything. —RyanMikulovsky
  

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2009-09-10 14:55:37   The sign says October 11th —Kehaar

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2009-10-06 21:42:17   The sign changed from "Open October 11th" to "Now Open" today. I was told by a checker that the official grand opening is still scheduled for the 11th, but you can shop there starting today. —jared.rapp

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2009-10-09 15:45:46   Yep, it's definitely open for business. Just bought some diapers and stuff there today. :) Seems like virtually any other Target (except backwards). Not sure if it's as "nice" as the one in Woodland, but I'm not exactly sure how it's really different... —RobertM525

• it is the only Target that has a shower in the stock room, is the different enough :P —SarahS

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2009-10-11 00:15:11   needs more bike parking, so jammed packed, and its not even "open" yet. i saw bikes locked to other bikes :( —SarahS

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2009-10-11 20:02:42   There are security cameras everywhere... except... over the bicycle racks. (That is, the one place where it really matters.) On opening day I observed a couple apparently stealing a shopping cart and I overheard some kids talking outside about how one of them had stolen "a useless blue plastic thing". Just opening day fun, I guess. The bike racks are the stupid type, installed in the stupid way. Obviously by people who have never been on a bicycle. The racks were completely full. The store has everything, but nothing good. —SteveDavison

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2009-10-11 20:29:14   They're boasting about the store being a USGBC LEED building, but I'm not impressed. There are different levels of certification. There are four levels: Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Target is LEED "Certified", the LOWEST LEVEL. You get that by just not doing anything totally stupid. If you use modern materials, try to make the place livable, and don't do anything illegal, you'll get LEED Certification. It's not impossibly difficult to get a higher level; Gallagher Hall which opened on the same day got a GOLD level. The Target has no skylights, a ceiling full of fluorescent lights, the usual large paved-over parking lot, no solar PV panels (AFAIK), nothing out of the ordinary. —SteveDavison

• One thing I did notice out of the ordinary were light sensors for their refrigerators. However they seemed to not be calibrated especially well since the lights kept going on and off despite no individuals in the aisle. That's all I've got. —RyanMikulovsky
  

• There are solar panels on the roof, which is flat, so they are not visible. To my knowledge, they did the LEED certification since the city of Davis required it of them, so I'm not surprised that they did it to the lowest level. I've noticed a lot of people making this same complaint, though, as if bronze was basically no better than if they'd built it out of asbestos and baby seals. —JoePomidor
  

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2009-10-11 22:04:44   Selection was very good. Prices on many items were better than what I've found elsewhere in Davis, although CVS has some things that are cheaper. Employees were easier to find than in other targets I've been to, and all seemed to know where stuff was. Parking wasn't so much fun - large lot, completely full. —IDoNotExist

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2009-10-11 22:15:15   got double charged for an item and the girl blamed it on the scanning gun so check your receipts. also it sucks that there are no mirrors in the clothing section. I mean you'd have to walk pretty far to the fitting room, that's ridiculous. $5 dvd's and $7-$9 for hoodies and sweats! —GreezySweezy

• Please keep in mind that the Target employees are COMPLETELY new and the Target has only been open for less than a week when this comment was made. Give them a break, if you've ever worked retail you know that it takes some time to get used to doing your job and working with customers. Check your receipts for mistakes, but try not to get upset with the new employees.—JesBisagno
  

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2009-10-12 01:37:52   The Davis Target store looks like it is a mirror image of the Woodland Target store. They both have the same tower but on different sides. —MaxLucas

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2009-10-12 16:46:11   "I know but only that God dwells there amongst men." - King Boris of the Bulgarians on Target —CarlosOverstreet

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2009-10-13 20:19:26   Great store, average size for a target. Stocks all the normal stuff that Target and Wal-Marts would. —IdealParadigm

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2009-10-14 20:41:51   What busline takes you there? —oneofbobsfriend

• Only P and Q. —hankim
  

• And the A line. —Maxlucas
  

• Woops. —hankim
  

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2009-10-29 12:43:06   Can someone please get a picture of the hilarious sign reading, "Need underwear, Target this way!" —HeatherKlinger

• They have been mentioned in the news... I'd love to see a photo of one of the signs. -jw
  

• The signs are actually an advertisement for the church that's right nearby... I think it's University Covenant Church. —jo
  

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2009-10-30 10:24:25   I expected this Target to look the same on the inside as most of the newer ones I've been to lately, but there are some definite differences. They made the women's clothes and the jewelry section look a little more like a department store...a little snazzier. Interestingly enough, I was on the hunt for knobs, as in kitchen/bathroom cupboard hardware, and I went to both the Woodland and Davis Targets. The same pack of 10 knobs was cheaper at the Woodland Target. Anyone know is this type of practice is typical? Maybe it was just an error. Either way, I'd be shopping at the Woodland Target since I live by it, but if this pricing were on purpose and applied to many items, I'd be annoyed if I lived in Davis. —AmLin

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2009-11-07 14:31:21   I wish it were a Wal-mart instead, but Target's the next best thing. Glad I won't have to drive to other towns just to buy home basics anymore. spacious, well-stocked, reasonably priced. —AliceMaine

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2009-11-18 14:40:01   I love this place! Great prices and way more convenient than going to Walmart. —ElizabethLee

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2009-11-18 21:22:54   Folks check out this site for all great Target deals, specific to the Davis Target http://www.bountynsavings.com —val