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Target TGT -2.67% wants to serve shoppers more than merchandise. The retailer has applied for a liquor license at a store planned for downtown Chicago to serve drinks in addition to packaged goods, but are shoppers ready to belly up to its bar?
The location is near Chicago’s Navy Pier and surrounded by a growing number of eateries that do a lot more than sell groceries. It’s also in a market where Target is testing localized assortments.
Grocery stores, nationally and in Chicago, now boast wine bars, dining areas and some even brew beer on site. Just a few blocks west of Target’s proposed store sits Eataly, a food emporium from Chef Mario Battali that offers all of the above and has been heralded as the future of food retailing. A new Latin-themed food hall concept is also readying to open nearby in Chicago’s Loop, complete with a bar.
Chicago grocers also invite shoppers to sit and have a drink or two. Whole Foods and Mariano’s are both close by and each serves liquor and has dine-in options.
Retail is always changing and Target is doing its best to keep up. The company is opening smaller format stores to better serve different demographics. This Chicago location will be just 24,000 sq. feet, roughly 100,000 sq. feet smaller than its largest supercenter. Additionally, the company has been tinkering with hyperlocal assortments, something also on display in its other Chicago stores where even the selection of locally brewed craft beer differs by neighborhood.
The Chicago Target may be the first for the Minneapolis-based chain, but booze served at retail is a bona fide trend. It’s also a great opportunity for Target to further differentiate itself with something more than a designer partnership.
Or perhaps it says more about the city than anything else: A Chicago Taco Bell also plans to serve booze when it opens in the Wicker Park neighborhood, a first for the chain.
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