Let me start by saying this: I love this Target! So why am I dinging this location one star? I'll get to that in a minute.
First, this Target has nearly everything I'd usually get from a bigger location. To put perspective on the size of this store, it's about the size of North Hollywood Target's entire grocery department. And still, I think this Target is still a little smaller than that. That being said, it's obvious at this point that this Target doesn't have everything other Targets carry. It's tailored to stock popular items the other nearby Targets sell frequently, catering to our neighborhood. My wife jokingly calls this location the "Man's Target." Sadly, it's kind of true as I'm usually all over the map in a bigger store, criss-crossing back and forth desperately trying to figure out how to wrap up and get out. This store tends to be a quick stop and go for me, just as I'd like a Target to be. Furthermore, the staff here are top notch. I've shared great, personable conversations with many staff members which deepen my connection to this store even further. It has a pretty decent grocery department, great as a quick grab for dinner. Their pharmacy is also super convenient.
Now the details that ding a star. I've been to this store already at least over a dozen times since the week before it's grand opening and have some thoughts. First, and most importantly: The parking. Yes, I know. There's usually plenty of spaces. But that's not always the case nor should my voiced issue be taken at face value. Part of the issue is that, yes, the parking lot is full spilling waiting cars out into the street. I've seen this twice now. They'd be wise to send at least one staff member out to the parking lot to scout spaces, guiding customers to a space. Whole Foods on Coldwater & Riverside does this successfully. This Target would be wise to do the same during peak hours or various other unforeseen moments to keep cars out of Hollywood Way. The other parking situation is cause exclusively by customers who wait for a "close" space up front (hint: every space at this Target is a close space). Those people also heavily contribute to congestion spilling out onto the street. Again, a (friendly, happy, excited) parking lot staff member could easily alleviate this problem.
Another issue is that my expectations are too high that they will have everything I need, which I've been disappointed half a dozen times going in just to see that they don't have it. This isn't the fault of the team here, as much as it is both mine and Target's ordering process. From there, I redirect to either a bigger Target or elsewhere, summing this trip up as both a waste of time and gas.
A little issue that I've noticed from having to go straight from this store to North Hollywood or Empire Center is the prices. This Target seems to be slightly more expensive on certain items. Not all items, but I've noticed little things like frozen pizzas that sell for $5.99 here and $5.49 at a larger store. Again, not a huge issue. But I don't know how extensive the price inflations are between this Target and a bigger store.
Lastly, and this also isn't the fault of this location, the app doesn't show the aisle numbers of in-stock products. I'm a heavy Target app user that loves building shopping lists before I go. It's not always effective, but usually the app will tell me where a product is located within a store. So far, this Target isn't synced with the app yet. So I end up flying blind while I'm in there. Luckily, it's a small store. But this guy still gets lost.
Yes, I know there isn't beer and wine sold here ...yet. It's coming. That's the city's permit process holding that up. I can't and won't ding them a star for that.
But all things considered, I'm here 2-3 times a week still. They do great work. I hope they'll take my suggestions into consideration and put them to use, as I've executed similar protocols similar to this, which worked well at previous employer. read more