Wicker Park getting a ‘grab-and-go’ Target store

Target Corp. plans to open a neighborhood-focused store in Wicker Park around the corner from the CTA’s Blue Line Division Street station.

While dubbed a “small-format” store, the 12,800-square-feet space will be large for Wicker Park. The new Target store will anchor Centrum Wicker Park, a 60-unit apartment building at 1664 W. Division St.

Aiming to open in July, the store will be Minneapolis, Minn.-based Target’s ninth small-format outpost in the area, joining the existing State Street, Streeterville, Lincoln Park North, Hyde Park, Belmont Station, Oak Park, Skokie and Lake View locations.

The grab-and-go mentality is the driving push behind the smaller Target stores, which stock fresh produce, snacks, apparel, health and beauty items, and strive to be a quick stop for residents and commuters.

Typical Target stores are around 135,000 square feet, so the smaller stores are about 14 percent of the size of traditional Targets.

It’s unclear if the new store will sell beer and wine. “The assortment mix at the Wicker Park store is still under development,” Target spokeswoman Liz Hancock said. “We will partner with the Wicker Park community and local elected officials in order to provide a convenient one-stop shopping experience that meets the needs of our local guests.”

The nearby CVS at 1200 N. Ashland Ave. sells beer and wine, an issue that divided neighbors a few years ago. And a liquor moratorium was recently lifted to allow for beer and wine sales at the Foxtrot grocer set to open early next year at 1722 W. Division St.

Ald. Joe Moreno (1st) told the Chicago Sun-Times shortly after Target’s announcement that there will be “a robust community input process” before any decisions are made to move forward with the store.

“I have referred Target to the Wicker Park Committee to begin that review process,” Moreno said. “I need to hear from the Wicker Park Committee and the broader community before making any decisions.”

John McLinden, a principal at Hubbard Street Group, which developed the apartment building as phase one of a larger mixed-use development called the Wicker Park Connection, said in a news release that his firm is excited to have Target as an anchor tenant.

The Wicker Park Connection includes a 15-story, 140-unit apartment tower now under construction, 17 townhomes and 38 condos.

The Target store closest to Wicker Park is in Logan Square at 2656 N. Elston Ave.

Mark Schindele, senior vice president of properties for Target,

said the company is “thrilled for the opportunity to serve guests in the Wicker Park neighborhood.”

Schindele said Target will meet with the Wicker Park Committee, a local neighborhood group, and partner with local leaders “to ensure the needs of this vibrant and unique community are reflected throughout the store’s assortment and design.”

The Wicker Park store will employ between 30 and 50 people. It also will offer an order pickup service where customers can shop online and pick up their items in the store, usually within less than an hour.

The retailer, which has 1,834 stores nationwide, said Monday that it’s on track to operate 130 small-format stores by the end of 2019.