Originally built in 1999, the Super Target located in the shadow of Stone Mountain, next to the old Olympic Tennis Venue, will be closing as of January 30th, 2010. Faced with declining profits from the store, Target is pulling the plug.
Most affected are the residents of the Park Springs continuing care center. Many were able to walk to the Target store, and with the closing, will need to find alternate places to fill prescriptions and buy groceries. There is a Super WalMart just a mile or so away, but it is going to be too far for the seniors to easily get to.
The store, which sits right at the county line between Gwinnett and Dekalb Counties, has been a great alternative to the nearby WalMart. Ironically, the WalMart, which has done VERY well, was slated for closure in 2003. Instead, because of the activism of the nearby community, it was expanded from 102,000 square feet to 210,000sf. In fact, several neighboring stores had to be moved in order for the WalMart to expand.
Many area residents have been trying, through petitions and emails, to get Target to change their mind. So far, they haven't prevailed. It will be sad to see the store go. It is surprising the store doesn't do better. It is a very convenient location, just of US78 at West Park Place, but it doesn't have signage or visibility from the highway. It is also very close to several upscale communities including Smokerise and Mountain Park.
The remaining locations that are closest, Snellville, Tucker (Northlake) and Lithonia are all in the 10 mile range. It isn't likely that they will pick up significant business from the closure of this store.
Hopefully the space won't remain empty for long.
Hi Lane,
The economy effecting the people and businesses. Thank you for sharing an informative and helpful post.
John Pusa
When Walmart expanded to a semi-super store here in Jamestown, Food City closed and Food Lion is struggling. I don't like shopping at Walmart, but they about make it impossible to stay loyal to the others because of their groceriy prices. I do buy my meat elsewhere - WM meat has no taste and is too pink to be real.
We are saying goodbye to quite a few businesses....
Thanks for the comments - Honestly, I'm not surprised at the store closure. I think it would have been better to increase its visibility, but the store hasn't been busy enough... which is one of the reasons we liked it.
So Wal-Mart initially wanted to close that store due to poor sales; they doubled in size instead due to community input. That's a big reason why the Target closed. To Wal-Mart, better to expand a failing store to crush a competitor than close the store. The wastelands of Gwinnett get larger and join together. The old tennis stadium, the Target, the old Cub Foods, the old Kroger, the shopping center with the Staples...expanses of empty asphalt and empty commercial structures.
The next thing that will happen is that Wal-Mart will build an even bigger store somewhere within a five-mile radius and close down this one by 78, thereby adding to the wasteland.