Target said Tuesday that it will close three stores in Portland, saying theft at the locations was hurting its bottom line and threatening the safety of customers and workers.
The closures, slated for Oct. 21, include locations in downtown, Northeast Portland and Southeast Portland. The Minneapolis-based retailer also plans to close two stores in Seattle, three in the Bay Area and one in New York City for similar reasons.
The Portland locations closing next month are:
All three stores were small-format locations that opened within just over a decade. A typical full-size Target is around 130,000 square feet, while each of the closing stores is less than 50,000 square feet.
“In this case, we cannot continue operating these stores because theft and organized retail crime are threatening the safety of our team and guests, and contributing to unsustainable business performance,” Target said in a statement.
During an earnings call last month, Target CEO Brian Cornell said that the company was facing “an unacceptable amount of retail theft and organized retail crime.” During the call, Cornell told investors that Target saw a 120% increase in theft involving violence or threats of violence during the first five months of this year alone.
The Minneapolis big-box giant is the latest major retailer to close Portland stores this year, citing theft and safety issues. Nike said earlier this month it would permanently close its community store in Northeast Portland following a monthslong closure due to shoplifting. In April, REI announced that it would close its Pearl District store early 2024, citing an increase in crime and theft as the main reasons. Walmart also closed its only two Portland stores earlier this year for underperformance.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said in a statement the closure was “disheartening.”
“My team and I continually work with local businesses, large and small, to find ways to support them as they navigate through unprecedented public safety and economic challenges,” Wheeler said.
Gov. Tina Kotek said during a downtown Portland task force meeting Tuesday that she’s “sorry to see stores like Target moving out” of Portland.
“But you know what? We’re going to create a place where people want to come back and have their businesses,” Kotek said. “So maybe they’ll come back — because we’d like them back.”
Retailers large and small have said that theft is a growing problem in Portland, and that city officials have been slow to respond.
Walter Weyler lives a few blocks from the Target Galleria and said he feels that the area has become unsafe.
“I sympathize with Target because it’s hard to attract customers when they don’t feel safe and workers aren’t safe,” Weyler said. “That area has become less and less safe, and that’s been noticeable over the last two years.”
Weyler is head of the Downtown Neighborhood Association but spoke on his own behalf, not for the organization.
Weyler said, from his perspective as a downtown resident, he believes “the city is starting to take actions to fix the situation.” He said he’s been seeing more police patrolling the streets in downtown, which he thinks “make a big difference” in making people feel safe and deterring crimes.
When the downtown Portland store opened in 2013 at the Galleria, a former department store and mall, downtown advocates hailed it as a major boost for the city core. The small-format store originally occupied 89,000 square-feet of space spread across three floors, but the retailer downsized its footprint to one story in 2021.
The big-box retailer opened its Southeast Powell location in 2018 as its second small-format store in Portland, occupying a 32,000-square-foot space near Cleveland High School that was the site of a former bowling alley.
The Hollywood Target opened in March 2021. The 42,000-square-foot store was previously occupied by Orchard Supply Hardware and was also the site of a former bowling alley.
Most of the other soon-to-close Target locations are also small-format stores, including the two in Seattle and the ones in San Francisco and Oakland.
Target announced last November that the company would be focusing on larger store formats in the coming years as part of its latest business strategy.
The mayor said his office has taken other measures to increase safety across the city, such as installing more light poles and increasing police patrols. Wheeler also said the city was working to recruit more police officers — the Portland Police Bureau is operating well below its authorized head count because of difficulty attracting and training recruits.
Target also operates stores in East Portland, at Jantzen Beach Center on Hayden Island and at Cascade Station near Portland International Airport.
