Back in the day, a Target store was considered an only-in-the-suburbs phenomenon, usually anchoring a big-ass parking lot lined by palm trees, and accompanied by a Lowe's, with an Outback Steakhouse, a Chick Fil-A and a Claim Jumper thrown in for good measure. Bonus points if it has a Hometown Buffet (though in that case, substitute the Target with a Wal-Mart).
Now, not only has the world changed, but our metropolitan area has changed. We actually have a Downtown now, and people are actually living in it (including a few of you readers). Five years ago, you Downtown Folk got a Ralphs supermarket, which was like a massively groundbreaking moment, remember? The seas parted, the earth shook and you could just walk down the street for some groceries.
The Target department store chain eventually wised up to all this and opened up a City Target store in Downtown last week. Slightly smaller, yet featuring much of the same stuff you'll find at a suburban Target (sans lawn/porch-related items).
The Militant went to take a gander at this new phenomenon, and bought some stuff too.
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| City Target's "City Love" section, full of Los Angeles-centric items. |
Yes, it looks pretty much indistinguishable from any other Target store, except it's so damn clean and orderly (it's a new store, duh). There was a section near the entrance called "City Love" that sold Los Angeles (and not "LA" in fact) t-shirts, mugs, refrigerator magnets and other trinkets. From a Militant perspective it was...interesting, but overall a nice effort on the civic pride front. Of course, the Fontana Target won't have any "Fontana" t-shirts.
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| DTLA's second supermarket! |
The grocery section was smaller, yet no less complete. Hey yo Downtowners, another supermarket for y'allz! Sure it's no Trader Joe's, but it's gonna have to do for now, huh?
The Militant ended up buying some cheap shades, because he was fearing he was being recognized lately.
When he was done, he got a nice, friendly, upbeat-yet-not-too-forced-and-hokey attitude from the redshirts (i.e. Target employees). Let's see how long that lasts, but they seemed aite.
One thing, though, that was
not alright was...
the lack of bicycle parking. Grrrr.
Dude, this is
Downtown. CicLAfreakingvia happened right outside its doors two weekends ago.
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| No bike parking facilities. Whatup wit dat?! |
The Militant didn't need to park his bike here since he rode the Metro, and City Target is right across the street from the 7th/Metro Center (M) Red/Purple/Blue/Expo station. But he's sure others would need to. One cyclist just used a "Passenger Loading Only" sign (pictured above) as a locking post, which is technically illegal, (yet never enforced). But let this be a Militant appeal to the City Target folks: The Militant knows you're trying your best to fit in the center of the City. Being transit-accessible, that's awesomesauce, and The Militant salutes you folks for that alone, But...them bikes are here to stay, so please City Target, It's not too late to add a few bike racks right near the front entrance!
