West Seattle Target finishes grocery-store-adding remodel

Five months after we first reported that Westwood Village Target would remodel and add a full in-store supermarket, the work is done and the shelves are stocked. Assistant store manager Shelby Palmer invited us over to take a look; she says this is the second day since the new fresh offerings – produce, meat, etc. – arrived, and stocking is continuing to ramp up, but it’ll all be complete by Sunday, which is the day they’ll celebrate the official grand opening. Produce is sold “by the unit” – notice the 24-cent bananas in the top photo. They’re carrying some local brands (Tim’s chips, for example) in both fresh and processed food, as well as Target house lines and other national brands. The dairy and other cooler cases now line almost the entire west end of the store, where electronics and hardware used to be, among other things.

This is one of hundreds of stores the company is remodeling to add supermarket sections. Shelby explained that Target has two levels of supermarket – this is the smaller, urban-style “P Fresh” model, not the “Super Target” you’d recognize from other regions, such as the Midwest. Meantime, Sunday’s grocery “grand opening” is fairly low key – no ribbon-cutting or other ceremony, but some giveaways are planned.

34 Replies to "West Seattle Target finishes grocery-store-adding remodel"

  • coffee June 2, 2011 (4:13 pm)

    hummm, I still think this was a dumb idea. And .24 cents per banana? That to me sounds spendy. I think I get 3-4 per pound which is usually .69 cents per pound.

  • Skeeter June 2, 2011 (4:16 pm)

    Looks really nice! I’m impressed with how quickly and orderly this remodel went through.

  • West Seattle Monkey June 2, 2011 (4:25 pm)

    24 cents for a single banana is a fine price. How inexpensive would you expect them to be?

  • J June 2, 2011 (4:53 pm)

    I was there yesterday and looked through all the grocery isles.. I’m impressed with the expanded selection of food and brands. It seems like many of the items are priced competitively and it looks good. I just hope the store works at keeping it looking nice and well stocked.. which hasn’t seemed like a big priority in the past for Target.

  • jc June 2, 2011 (6:08 pm)

    convenience stores sell single bananas for 1 dollar each. 24 cents without the convenience upcharge sounds about right.

  • Jsv June 2, 2011 (7:10 pm)

    Their choice to carry very little organic stuff seems weird to me. Maybe it’s just not their thing, but doesn’t seem like they did their homework.

  • whycause June 2, 2011 (7:16 pm)

    I could be mistaken but doesn’t Trader Joe’s have bananas at 19 cents a piece?

  • j June 2, 2011 (7:48 pm)

    I wish they would have added a pharmacy!

  • JamminJ June 2, 2011 (8:12 pm)

    wont be doing my main grocery shopping there, but nice when I am already there and need to pick up a few grocery items.

    Which I don’t get… isn’t the grocery market one of the smaller profit margin businesses??

    Seems like alot of work/space for small revenue.

  • M June 2, 2011 (8:51 pm)

    JamminJ,

    You might be looking at it backwards. People may go in to Target looking for low prices on groceries (where you are correct, small margin) but deciding while they are there to get other things in the non-food part of the store. At least, that’s what they may be banking on.

  • WestSide45 June 2, 2011 (8:53 pm)

    The sign says “.24 cents”, but I don’t know if it is for a banana or a pound of bananas. At any rate, that’s either 4 bananas for a penny, and you may keep the change, or, better yet, four pounds of bananas for a penny. If it were 24 cents per pound there should not be a decimal point before the number. Didn’t anyone take math?

  • austin June 2, 2011 (9:14 pm)

    Too much condescending arithmetics and not enough reading comprehension makes baby jesus cry.

  • WestSide45 June 2, 2011 (9:43 pm)

    In math it’s either correct or it’s not. Grammar has a few rules, too. Just because you choose to ignore them doesn’t mean they don’t exist (Jesus is capitalized). Posting on the Internet is no reason to be sloppy. Have a nice day.

  • Traci June 2, 2011 (10:11 pm)

    Ah, your conversation is making me think of some serious gaps in my spending habits. Just today I bought a banana and didn’t even think about the price. It could have been 25 cents or a dollar. Hell, it could have been two dollars and I wouldn’t have noticed. I just wanted that banana.

  • Never Say Pie June 2, 2011 (10:29 pm)

    @Coffee I don’t see anything dumb about providing more product to your everyday consumer. In fact, it’s a pretty smart move from one of the few larger companies still doing well in this recession. With everyone focused on yo-yoing gas prices, one stop shopping is even more favorable than before. They are also one in the small handful of companies able to hire more people because of this…

  • puzzled June 3, 2011 (8:17 am)

    This is Tarjay – not Trader Joes. Why would Target sell organic? Does Walmart? Fred Meyer? Don’t know, just asking. If you’re that bent out of shape about the bananas not being organic, go elsewhere. Why should every store have to cater to everyone’s needs?

  • Kateclody June 3, 2011 (8:39 am)

    At least it’s one step closer to a Super Target!! People out here have no idea what they are missing out on ;-) I’m excited to say the least!

  • Alfi June 3, 2011 (9:15 am)

    West Seattle is getting too many grocery stores! Do we really need that many? I’m disappointed in Target, before the grocery addition they filled a need for a overall department store with reasonable quality at reasonable prices. Now selection is poor and quality seems to have lowered. All to make room for groceries that we can on any other corner.

  • ohtargetwhy June 3, 2011 (10:12 am)

    I’m disappointed with Target’s choice to remodel and I miss the old store. I am consistently annoyed with the small aisles with which their new carts don’t even fit. I spend more time jockeying with other customers to move out of the way because there is no room to move in the aisles (women’s clothing is BAD) and also in the cleaning supply aisles. Only one person at a time can stand in in them with a cart. Also really don’t like all the red they added everywhere its oppressive as its closes the walls in and makes it feel smaller. I’m sure you thought adding all the ‘fire’ would increase your sales but it also can affect people negatively. The groceries don’t appeal to me at all so I won’t be shopping there. I plan to go to Target now as little as possible as the changes after 10 years of shopping there are not optimal and create a more stressful shopping experience.

  • bridge to somewhere June 3, 2011 (10:48 am)

    WestSide45 is exactly right . . . that sign implies i can get either 4 bananas for less than 1 cent, or 1 pound of bananas for a quarter of one cent. Yeah Target!

  • Orca25 June 3, 2011 (10:53 am)

    I was there this morning and the sign says,”0.24 c per banana” I think that is clear if you are shopping and not looking at pictures on the Internet…..

  • bridge to somewhere June 3, 2011 (11:09 am)

    .25 dollars is 25 cents; 0.25 cents is 1/4 of a cent. So the sign is clear, but mathematically it is likely incorrectly clear. :-)

  • Diane June 3, 2011 (12:28 pm)

    never been to a Walmart, but yes, Fred Meyer has fantastic organic section

  • carol June 3, 2011 (3:16 pm)

    siqn says per pound

    • WSB June 3, 2011 (3:30 pm)

      The sign says “per banana.” Now if you want to argue the point over 0.24c, go right ahead. But I just went back to our original shot. Sorry we don’t shoot at mega high resolution, my iPhoto is already cluttered with 5,000+ shots I guess I managed not to delete after processing and heaven forbid they would have been all like 5 megs each. Anyway, I cropped and uploaded. Per banana. Here you go.
      https://westseattleblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/bananabig.jpg

  • Alki Girl June 3, 2011 (3:56 pm)

    OMG – enough with the bananas already. Ha!

  • Tucker June 3, 2011 (4:44 pm)

    The one thing I will say about the Target remodel is the racetrack makes way more sense than it used to. There is now more of an organic flow to the way the store is laid out. Though, I do have to agree that the tighter aisles are a bit of a nuisance.

  • TargetLover June 5, 2011 (8:09 am)

    As a single mom in a horrible economy I am struggling to save every penny. Target having groceries is a wonderful thing. If you compare grocery prices week to week you will quickly become aware that Target beats most grocery stores sales even with their everyday prices. Target does have their own house brand of organic choices as well. But, I think with their target market being people like me rather than people who can afford to eat everything organic (although I would like to) it makes sense they wouldn’t have much in the way of spoilable organic foods. And, if you weigh one of those montrous GMO bananas, I bet 24 cents each is still a good deal! ;)

  • Jeff June 5, 2011 (1:11 pm)

    Yeah. I don’t get it. I wandered around there on Friday and didn’t buy anything. No onsite butcher so no fresh meat. The only meats I saw were frozen hamburger patties and the like. Not much produce. I guess I might buy a few staples if I happen to be there buying something else.

    Agreed, on the new layout being more logical in general.

  • Jeff June 5, 2011 (1:13 pm)

    speaking of bananas –

    The banana shipment arrrived while I was there and all through the store on the sales team’s walkie talkies I could hear someone excitedly shouting “The bananas are. The bananas are here!” That made me chuckle.

  • SpoilSport June 5, 2011 (8:26 pm)

    I was sad because I had no shoes, and then I met a man who had no bananas. Yes, he had no bananas today. ( :

  • anonymous_employee June 6, 2011 (12:44 am)

    For the people who are upset about the changes and claim they will no longer shop there, I don’t really understand your logic. While there may have been inconveniences during the transition period, the end result is worth it! We have made aisles wider, brighter, and cleaner, we have updated fixtures, signing and displays, we have brand new carts, we have streamlined the flow and layout of the store, we have expanded the selection of nearly all departments, we built a brand new fitting room, we have new floors and carpeting, we have greatly expanded the dry grocery selection, and we added fresh produce and packaged meat products (with prices that definitely beat neighboring QFC!). Change isn’t always a bad thing!

  • carol June 6, 2011 (12:46 pm)

    I was wrong about my previous post, it was per banana.

  • one happy banana June 9, 2011 (1:53 pm)

    tell it anonymous_employee!! I agree that the transition was a pain but look at the store now! I am super happy that affordable groceries are in Westwood Village, QFC prices are insane and Safeway is so dirty. Keep up the great work Target!

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