New Targets for East Long Beach

East Long Beach "Targeted"

With the opening of the new smaller Target store ( the City Target and Target Express monikers as well as the larger Super Target names have been abandoned by the retailer) in the former Ralph's Market at Long Beach's Iron Triangle corner ( PCH/2nd/ Bellflower streets), the Los Altos Target is undergoing more change and renovation.

The large white tent in the parking lot outside the former garden center of the Target has sparked the interest of shoppers on local social networks.

The remodel to the Los Altos Target will include three major additions, the change of the Target Pharmacy into a CVS Pharmacy, a Starbucks and a new healthy food option.

In December of 2015, CVS paid $ 1.9 billion to Target to take over the in-store pharmacies. The sale comes as Target tries to refocus to its core business under new CEO Brian Cornell after an expensive  and disastrous attempt to expand into Canada that ended in a $5 billion dollar loss as it closed all of its stores in Canada last year.   

The first conversion of a Target Pharmacy to CVS took place in February 2016 with plans to convert the over 1,600 Target Pharmacies to CVS Pharmacies by the winter of this year.  Target Pharmacies have already started to sell out of the  Target brands of over-the-counter drugs.

According to employees, the Los Altos Target CVS expects to be fully integrated into the CVS online prescription system by sometime in March 2016.  

Also coming with the Los Altos Target update will be a Starbucks.  Target signed a deal with Starbucks in 2002 and began placing the coffee stores in new and remodeled stores in 2003.

Finally, employees beleive the Los Altos Target may be getting a new "healthy sandwich" cafe as Target jumps on the healthy food bandwagon while giving up their own Target Cafes. That however could nto be confirmed. 

Target has been testing three options in stores for replacing its company run Target Cafes.  

The Los Altos Target remodel options do present some challenges from local competition as destinations aside from the eaiser access CVS across Stearns and the drive-thru CVS at the Traffic Circle. 

Starbucks already has one store in the Los Altos North Center where Target is located (with easier parking).  Just across the parking lot is Mc Donald's Mc Cafe with a drive-thru. 

Finally, the long-shot, but most likely big draw a Pret A Manger  would compete with the near-by Lazy Acres Cafe  and self-cooking health conscious Trader Joes shoppers.

When the company announced the new healthy strategy and closing its Target Cafe's they announced each site would be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.