Target store closures are planned by the Minneapolis-based retailer next year and at least a dozen of the big-box locations have been listed.
The Star Tribune reported on Tuesday that employees at 12 affected stores had been notified of the scheduled closures by the company earlier in the week.
Target has been focusing on expanding its portfolio by opening smaller-format stores in dense suburban areas while shutting down larger stores.
According to The Star Tribune, the retailer has opened 32 new stores this year and was looking at 35 new locations for 2018 while routinely closing down a handful of underperforming stores per year.
"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," a spokeswoman from Target told CNBC.
"Typically, a store is closed as a result of seeing several years of decreasing profitability.”
According to CNBC, the stores being closed include: Minneapolis' Twin Cities metro area (Hastings); Fergus Falls in outstate Minnesota; Harper Woods, Michigan (Eastland); Hutchinson, Kansas; Benton Harbor, Michigan; Macon, Georgia; Slidell, Louisiana; Lauderhill, Florida; Matteson, Illinois; Romeoville, Illinois; Baltimore (West), and San Antonio (Far East).
While the store closures may be a logical effort to streamline profitability, it is something that will impact community members from smaller areas.
“We are committed to doing everything and anything we can to get them to change their mind because we know how important [Target] is to the community,” Andrew Bremseth, the Fergus Falls city administrator, said via the Fergus Falls Daily Journal.
The loss of jobs has become a major concern to community members, with residents in Fergus Falls setting up a petition to keep their local store open.
“Target has been an important part of our community for almost twenty years,” the petition states.
“Closing Target in Fergus Falls would take the jobs of hard workers, and it would remove the positive impact the store has had on our community. Instead of a great shopping destination, we would be left with another empty retail building. Our town is thriving - please keep Target open so we can continue to shop and work there for many years to come.”
In Hutchinson, Kansas, residents have set up a “Candlelight Vigil for Target” event, which will see a gathering outside the parking lot of the local Target to “mourn the loss of our beloved Target.”
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