BARBOURSVILLE ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” Just in time for the holidays, the renovated and expanded Target store at Merritt Creek Farm shopping plaza is set to open Sunday.
On Tuesday, Target hosted an invite-only event to cut the ribbon and give the media a tour of the remodeled store, which was forced to close in February due to concerns with stability of the slope behind the store.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ve been in the building for a few months now, getting it remodeled and enhanced,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ said Chelsea Crist, store director. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ve expanded our food department by three times its original size. We have new departments with our beauty, our tech and our home seasonal flats. Also, beauty is now front and center in our new layout.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
The store will open to the public at 7 a.m., Sunday. The store hours are 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
The expanded, approximately 125,000-square-foot store also means more jobs, Crist said.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWe actually retained 86% of our original team,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ she said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWe were able to hire about 56 new team members, and then weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ll hire another 20 for our seasonal positions. We will have a total of 156 staff members at the Barboursville store.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
The Barboursville Target also offers drive-up and order pick-up services, as well as a Starbucks and CVS Pharmacy.
Barboursville Mayor Chris Tatum proclaimed it to be ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œTarget Re-Opening DayÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ in Barboursville.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIt has been a long time coming,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ the mayor said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œI received thousands of phone calls and text messages asking me when is the Target opening it back up. Today is the day. I am thankful that Target has decided to reinvest in our community, and they have reinforced their investment here.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
The event also highlighted TargetÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s donations to Facing Hunger Foodbank.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWe are affiliated with Feeding America, and thatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s a national brand of food banks throughout the United States, and Target is a community partner with Feeding America,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ said Liz Watson, community relations officer with Facing Hunger. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œSo that means we get to be community partners with Target ourselves on a national level, and that allows us to be community partners to provide donated product to the neighbors in need that we serve.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Watson said when the store was forced to close, Facing Hunger was able to rescue close to 72,000 pounds of food.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWe were able to get that food into the hands of those in need that same day across our 17 county coverage area,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ she said.
Watson said since January, the Barboursville and Teays Valley Target stores have donated 131,000 pounds of food to Facing Hunger Foodbank.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œNot only do they partner with us by donating food, but they partner with us by volunteerism,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ she said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œTheyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re very hands on with their local food bank on a national level, but also local, here in Huntington. Starting next Monday, we will start picking up from this store, so weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re going to be getting even more donated products.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
