Galleria to get its very own Target

DOWNTOWN ? Target will be making a home in the Glendale Galleria, mall officials said.

Federated Department Stores, Inc., which owns the Galleria anchor spot that Robinsons-May recently vacated, has sold the location ? along with four other mall department store locations ? to Target Corp., Federated spokesman Jim Sluzewski.

Escrow closed on Wednesday, Galleria Senior General Manager JoAnne Brosi said.

“We do have the locations, one of which is in the Glendale Galleria, and we are happy to have them,” Target spokeswoman Carolyn Brookter said. “We’ve always said we’d look into and acquire locations and real estate we thought would be great locations for a Target, so that’s what we’ve done.”

Federated, which owns Macy’s, has been selling Robinsons-May stores since it merged with May Department Stores in 2005.

But talk of negotiations in June between Target and Federated came as a surprise to some City Council members, who said it was ironic for the mall to house a Target, since it vehemently opposed plans for one at the Americana at Brand.

Rick Caruso, developer of the $264.2-million retail and residential outdoor mall project slated to open in downtown Glendale in 2008, backed out of a deal with Target after public pressure to aim for high-end retailers.

General Growth fought the retailer coming, saying it would be bad for the community, Caruso said.

“I think the opinions of General Growth may have been misunderstood,” Brosi said.

Galleria officials are excited that Target is coming in, she said.

“In terms of a quality retailer, I think they are well thought of in the industry, and I think they will be a good partner for us and the community,” Brosi said.

A Target would be welcome, as long as it operates up to the city’s standards, Councilman Ara Najarian said.

“We, as a city, want to make sure we get only the best that Target has to offer,” he said. “We want the best in terms of merchandise, in terms of staffing, and in terms of operation.”

The national chain would be a nice addition to the Galleria, mall patron and Glendale resident Karla Johnson said.

“I’ve been waiting for someone to put something useful in there, so I won’t have to drive to Burbank or Eagle Rock,” she said.

A Target may force the Galleria to revisit its parking issues, however, Councilman Bob Yousefian said.

“The parking may need to be restudied because Target generates a different kind of parking demand than, let’s say, Robinson’s May may have generated,” Yousefian said.

“It may push the Galleria to come to the realization that we have been telling them for the last several years that their parking structure has basically outgrown their needs.”

Brosi said that at the earliest, shoppers could see a Target open in a year.

QUESTION

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