MANHATTAN – In a big surprise to Upper East Siders, Target opened the doors of its highly anticipated store on East 86th Street five days earlier than their official grand opening on Sunday, October 24th.
At 5:00pm Tuesday evening, the first shoppers made their way past a statue of Target’s mascot dog ‘Bullseye’ down the escalators to the sprawling 55,000 square foot underground space.
The new store’s regular hours will be from 8:00 am to 9:00 pm every day of the week.
Inside you’ll find a store with nearly as robust of a selection of products as a full-sized above ground store– including things like clothes for the whole family, home decor and essentials, a small with fresh produce and alcoholic beverages and a CVS pharmacy, though the pharmacy was shuttered during our visit on Wednesday.
Upper East Site even spotted Christmas decorations on sale already inside the store.
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The opening was a shock to some after confusion earlier in the day Tuesday when the store’s listing on Google was updated to say the new Target store at 150 East 86th Street would be opening on Wednesday, October 20th.
Just last week, the mega-retailer announced the store’s grand opening date as October 24th and even ran advertisements on social media touting that grand opening date to potential shoppers.
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Upper East Site reached out to Target for clarification— but the store’s open doors and busy cash registers are as much clarification as Upper East Siders needed.
The store may be open to shoppers, but it is still hiring— with a dozen positions at the new store listed on the company’s website Tuesday evening.
Once fully-staffed, the store is expected to bring a total of 200 jobs to the neighborhood.
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