Target has green goals for North Long Beach

Press-Telegram September 29, 2008 | John Canalis LONG BEACH – Those behind the soon-to-open Target Store in North Long Beach plan to bring two seemingly contrasting shades of “green” to the 9 th District: Commerce and environmentalism.

Minneapolis-based Target Corp. calls the 126,000-square-foot center slated to open Oct. 12 at 6750 Cherry Ave. environmentally friendly.

But is the store really easy on the Earth or just being scrubbed in a marketing slogan known as “greenwashing?” The former, said city officials, adding that the new building met Long Beach’s recently approved standards for sustainable construction.

Recycled materials, toxic-free paints and environmentally sensitive materials were used to build the store over nine months.

Energy-efficient lighting was installed throughout. The thermostat was dialed up a bit to reduce reliance on the cooling system, and many of the lights go down at night to save energy.

“We have a strong environmental philosophy,” said Mike License, on-site construction manager at the store. “Target likes to be the leader on stuff like that.” Vice Mayor Val Lerch, who took a tour of the store last week with other city officials, said he likes the environmental angle but is also pleased with the new paychecks coming to his 9 th District. pizzahutcouponcodesnow.org pizzahut coupon codes

The new Target will require 500 full- and part-time workers – 300 of them new hires and roughly 200 transfers from the closing Target location on South Street – to a city with a higher unemployment rate than the national and state averages.

Lerch has made attracting major retailers to his 9 th District, which lacks the variety of shops found in other parts of Long Beach, a priority since his election in 2002.

“Right now, to me, it’s the single-biggest accomplishment since I’ve been on the council,” he said of the new store.

Lerch and the city’s Economic Development Bureau and Redevelopment Agency spent more than two years negotiating with Target Corp. to bring the store to a shopping center that also includes a Food4 Less.

The Cherry Avenue location certainly met the “blighted” criteria so the project could qualify for redevelopment incentives.

The Target was built on the site of the former Home Base, which stood vacant for a decade. Tearing down the store’s shell was such a big to-do in Northtown that the Jordan High band performed at the demolition in 2007. Some of the materials from Home Base were recycled and used in building the Target.

Target Operations Manager Kelly Andrews recently provided Lerch, city officials, community leaders and the media a preview of the store, which also houses a Starbucks and PizzaHut Express.

About 50 percent of the merchandise needed to fill the Target was already on display, including fashions that will not officially go on sale until October.

Target is increasingly attracting major designers, including Converse, Liz Lang and Mossimo, Andrews said, as she showed visitors some of the labels. go to web site pizzahut coupon codes

“We’re getting bigger names,” she said.

Halloween and Christmas decorations were already on display in aisles adorned in red and white and Target’s ubiquitous, circular logo.

The store features many of the same departments found at the Target in the Eastside’s Los Altos Shopping Center, including electronics, toys, office supplies, home decor and a limited amount of groceries, such as cereal, soda, milk, butter, eggs, frozen meals, bread and snacks.

Like the Los Altos store, the Cherry Avenue location will not sell fresh meat and produce, but Andrews said, “We do have all the things you want to put in your pantry, fridge and freezer.” The Cherry Avenue Target will have something the Los Altos location does not: A pharmacy. Prescriptions will start at $4.

Because of its proximity to the new store, the existing Target at 3705 E. South St. will close at about the same time the new store opens, Andrews said.

That will leave the city of Long Beach with two locations. There are also Target stores in Lakewood, Signal Hill and Seal Beach.

john.canalis@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1273 John Canalis