By Paulina Goping, Staff Writer
Expect more, pay less. That’s what locals are looking forward to in the summer of 2022, when the new Target is anticipated to open at the former Kmart site. The news was first announced on Oct. 12 by the OBX Island Guys Real Estate Group on Facebook and was confirmed by Target spokesperson Aryn Ridge.
“Target has plans to open a store in Kill Devil Hills,” Ridge told Nighthawk News. “We’re excited to bring an easy, safe and convenient shopping experience to new guests in the community with this new Target store.”
The building will be approximately 80,000 square feet, leaving room for another tenant on the 110,000 square foot lot.
The news that Target was moving in was surprising to many people, including Kill Devil Hills Mayor Ben Sproul.
“I think everybody was surprised the first time they heard it,” Sproul said. “It’s a tough time for retail. It’s a tough time for big-box retail databases. It’s a very unusual, very seasonal market. Not all big corporations are into that kind of model for income revenue.”
People were not only surprised, but also happy about Target’s arrival to the OBX.
“I am excited about the new Target being built,” freshman Lucy Stecher said. “I didn’t think it would happen, though, because I heard that Target was looking to build here and decided not to, so I am happy.”
Since the enthusiasm following the initial announcement, plenty of questions have come up surrounding the details. One question involves the building: Will the old Kmart be torn down to make room for the Target? Sproul said this will most likely not be the case.
“Some of the early reports said that they were going to bulldoze the building and build something new,” Sproul said. “That is not true, as I understand it. There’s a lot of technical details about why that is unlikely.”
Another detail about the project is that it will most likely be completed by the summer of 2022. This is due to the planning, approval, and construction that needs to take place.
“Over the next four or five months, they are going to be in their planning and design phase, where they figure out all the technical details about following all the rules that we have in Kill Devil Hills,” Sproul said. “Then they will bring it to the town and present what they want to do, and we will go through our process of the planning board. If all goes well, they will probably take eight or 10 months to build it out.”
Although some have issues with Target and other big-box stores, many think it could benefit the local economy as locals and tourists flock to the store.
“Competition is always better for the consumer,” sophomore JoJo Morgan said. “I think Target will positively affect our local economy because there will be healthy competition in the job market, and local businesses will most likely not lose money.”
Others echo this statement.
“I think it will offer some variety to the consumer’s choices,” junior Tyler Anderson said. “It’s all about competition, and if the Target can do a better job than the others, it will succeed.”
When the waiting is over, we’ll be able to buy all our favorite Target goods only a few miles away – but we’ll still have to make the one-hour drive to get to the nearest Chick-fil-A.
Sophomore Paulina Goping can be reached at 23gopingpa94@daretolearn.org.
