Target’s decision to shutter its first Manhattan location amid rampant shoplifting should serve as a “wakeup call to city officials,” an industry expert said — and the retailer’s plans to open another store in the neighborhood have been delayed, The Post has learned.
The Minneapolis-based discount chain announced Tuesday it will close the E. 117th St. store – along with eight other locations in Seattle, Portland, Ore., and San Francisco – on Oct. 21, citing the “safety” of its employees amid increasingly violent incidents of crime
“It’s a terrible result and hopefully serves as a wakeup call to city officials that this needs to be dealt with ASAP, otherwise there will be more to follow,” warned Jeffrey Roseman, vice chairman of real estate giant Newmark.
“The city has always been the mecca for retailers from across the world who wanted to be a part of the action. We can’t afford to let that slip away.”
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg has been criticized for refusing to prosecute shoplifters, who have preyed on businesses since the pandemic.
The prosecutor noted that shoplifting complaints are down 14% in the borough this year after Target announced its decision.
State Assemblyman Eddie Gibbs, who represents East Harlem, called Target’s exit from his district a “setback.”
“Whether (it’s) Target, CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, small mom-and-pop businesses, or other big-box retailers, retail stores are falling victim to petty crimes and shoplifting, which is reaching alarming levels,” the Democrat said in a statement to The Post.
Shutting the E. 117th St. store, which employs some 200 workers, will leave a void in the community and force East Harlem residents to leave their neighborhoods to feed their families, Gibbs added.
“All East Harlemites deserve to live near convenient, affordable, healthy grocery stores,” he said. “Target served as an economic anchor for this community, providing invaluable and affordable food choices.”
Gibbs’ concerns come as Target remained mum about opening a smaller outpost about a mile away at 121 W. 125th St. in a new mixed-use development that will include Trader Joe’s, Sephora and Pandora.
The store was scheduled to open last month but that has now been pushed back until early next year, multiple sources told the Post on Wednesday.
A rep for the 125th St. building’s developers said both Target and Trader Joe’s “are slated to open in the next few months.”
No signs for either store are up yet, although they are for Pandora and Sephora.
Target did not returned phone calls and emails on Wednesday.
Barbara Askins, chief executive of Harlem’s Business Improvement District, said she met with Target executives last week to discuss the upcoming 125th St. store.
“I did not get the impression they are not coming,” she told The Post. “As far as I’m concerned we are still working together and we plan to invite them to the next meeting we have at the end of October.”
It’s not clear whether Target broke its lease at E. 117th St., a location it fought hard to secure for its grand opening in 2010, lobbying elected officials and wooing local residents as it sought to avoid the backlash Walmart experienced when it wanted to open a stores in the five boroughs.
“This was a shock to me,” Askins said.
The owner of Sylvia’s, the iconic southern comfort food eatery on Malcom X Blvd., said leaving East River Plaza for W. 125th St. makes more sense because there’s more foot traffic.
The block between Malcolm X and Adam Clayton Powell boulevards boasts major retailers including Whole Foods, Marshall’s and H&M and the new Studio Museum in Harlem is nearly completed.
“It’s the most central part of Harlem and possibly a better location,” said K. De ’Sean Woods, the grandson and chief executive of the eatery’s namesake.