Target to close Mondawmin store
Decreasing profitability apparently led to shutting
of chain’s first store in city
Target will close its store in Mondawmin Mall in February, one of a dozen locations around the country slated to shut their doors, the retailer said Tuesday.
The mass discounter, a key anchor in the mall’s revitalization in 2008, will close Feb. 3.
“This decision was not made lightly,” said Kristy Welker, a Target spokeswoman. “We have a rigorous process in place to evaluate the performance of every store on an annual basis, closing or relocating underperforming locations as needed.”
She said the company typically decides to close a store after several years of decreased profitability. All eligible store employees will be offered jobs at other area Targets, she said.
The Mondawmin Target was the retailer’s first location in the city nearly a decade ago, part of a larger, $70 million effort to redevelop the mall with new anchors such as Shoppers Food & Pharmacy and to help spread commercial development beyond the Inner Harbor. Baltimore officials offered $15 million in tax incentives to help with mall redevelopment.
“It’s devastating. It’s absolutely devastating,” said Nick J. Mosby, a state delegate and former Baltimore City Council member whose district includes the Mondawmin community. “It’s really a huge anchor to the mall and to the surrounding community. Many people shop at that particular Target.”
Target also is reportedly closing stores in Michigan, Kansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida, Illinois and Texas. The retailer operates 20 stores in the Baltimore area, including one other store in Baltimore city, in the Canton Crossing shopping center in Canton.
Mayor Catherine Pugh said she spoke with Target officials Tuesday after learning of the retailer’s decision, which she said “comes as a shock to myself and anyone else.”
She said she was told it was a corporate decision based on declining sales and the company’s expectations, the same reasons for the handful of closings the retailer plans around the country. Target, which owns its store building, is willing to work with the city to come up with other uses, she said.
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