Uptown Minneapolis Target to close in May

Uptown is losing another business, and this one hits a little closer to home.

Minneapolis-based Target announced Monday that it will close its small-format store in the south Minneapolis neighborhood because of a lack of foot traffic.

Target joins a growing list of national and local retailers that have left the area in the past few years following the COVID-19 pandemic and damage from riots in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd.

The store, between West Lake Street and Lagoon Avenue on S. Fremont Avenue, will close May 13.

"The decision to close one of our stores isn't something we take lightly," said Joshua Thomas, a Target spokesman. "It's an action we take only after multiple years of working to improve performance. That is the case for our Uptown store. ... We value the team members at the Uptown store, and they will be offered the opportunity to work at nearby Target locations."

The store employs about 45 part-time and full-time workers.

The Uptown store is one of fourthat Target will close this year, the company said. The other stores are on the East Coast, with two in the Washington, D.C., area and another in Philadelphia. Target plans to open about 20 new stores this year.

Target doesn't own the Uptown space, which is on the first floor underneath the Revel apartment complex, and representatives are discussing the next steps with the building's landlord. The site was one of the first in a wave of small, urban stores Target opened across the country. The 21,400-square-foot store opened in 2017 and is about one-sixth the size of a typical Target.

In January, a man reportedly broke into the Target store and started a fire. Target said the issues with the store aren't connected to one incident and that traffic problems there have persisted for years.

Uptown has seen an exodus of stores since 2019 when national retailers Columbia Sportswear and the North Face closed. Pandemic shutdowns, riot damage and protests after law enforcement shot 32-year-old Winston Smith in an Uptown parking garage only exacerbated a challenging retail environment. Other stores and restaurants from Apple to Stella's Fish Cafe & Prestige Oyster Bar also were pushed to close in recent years. Many boarded-up storefronts remain near the once popular Hennepin Avenue and W. Lake Street intersection.

Despite its issues, Uptown has attracted new businesses, including the Arts & Rec restaurant in the Seven Points retail center. The Uptown Theatre also is set to reopen in May after transforming from a historic movie theater to a live entertainment venue.