Pasco County Commission Chairwoman Kathryn Starkey isn’t ready to concede that Target must close its store in Odessa.
The national discount chain recently announced the closure of 13 stores across the country for poor sales performance.
The Odessa location, at 16400 State Road 54, is expected to shut its doors on Jan. 30, displacing more than 140 employees.
Target officials say their workers will be offered positions at other stores.
Starkey has been trying to change Target’s mind.
“I let them know they are looking backward not forward,” said Starkey at the Nov. 17 meeting of the Pasco County Commission in Dade City. “We need to have a deeper dealing with Target and show them in person what’s going on in this area.”
There is no word on whether Target will reconsider its decision or send corporate representatives for a tour.
But, Starkey said the closure would be a “black eye” for Pasco County and Target.
“We’d like to move the discount to the next level, and move our Target off the closure list,” she said.
The super center in Odessa opened in 2006, only a couple of years before the economy tanked. Pasco County now is booming with new development, both commercial and residential.
That likely wasn’t a factor in Target’s decision.
Many big box stores are looking to downsize in an era of Internet sales, said Richard Gehring, the county’s strategic policy administrator.
In fact, even as Target plans 13 closings, the company also is building 15 new stores in the next year. Only two are super centers. The others range in size from about 16,000 square feet to 29,000 square feet, according to Target.
At more than 120,000 square feet, the Odessa location, with a garden center and parking area, could be attractive to another business that wants to move quickly into ready-made space, said Gehring.
“It’s a negative. It could also be a positive,” he said. “It’s a major opportunity.”
Published November 25, 2015
