Target Closing Stores After Holidays In Grinch News: List Of 13 Stores Plus Hot Deals At Haggen, Fresh & Easy

Target is closing stores, making the announcement even as shoppers are making their lists and checking them twice for their holiday gift lists. Proving that 13 really is an unlucky number (at least for the employees at the selected locations and consumers who rely on those particular stores), Target revealed that it is closing 13 stores by the end of January 2016, reported CNN.

“The decision to close a Target store is not made lightly,” revealed a spokesperson from Target.

Before closing the stores, Target evaluated them as to how well they were doing financially. Only after a few years of continually sinking profit is a store closed.

“Typically, a store is closed as a result of seeing several years of decreasing profitability,” added the Target representative.

Employees worried about their future as the process of closing the stores begins may have some options as those who are eligible will be offered opportunities to move to different locations among the 1,799 stores in the United States.

But some customers who learned that their favorite Target was among the closing stores were so upset that they created social media campaigns to try to rescue them.

Is your Target among the closing stores? Here’s the hit list:

Austin North East in Austin, TX;
Suncoast Pasco County in Odessa, FL;
Casa Grande, AZ;
Victorville, CA;
East Flint in Flint, MI;
Columbus Southwest in Columbus, OH;
Springfield, OH;
Northridge in Milwaukee, WI;
Superior, WI;
New Ulm, MN;
Ottumwa, IA;
Anderson, IN;
Dixie Highway in Louisville, KY

As for why Target is playing the role of the Grinch to those who work or shop at the closing stores, the period prior to Black Friday has become the traditional time of year to reveal which stores it is shuttering, reported Fortune.

The theory is that by revealing the planned shutdowns, Target can implement the procedures needed for closing stores after getting the most from those locations during the holiday season. Such closures take place only after dwindling profits at such stores, said a Target representative.

Recently, overall, the company has experienced improved sales at most of its 1,800 stores in the United States. By focusing on the way in which products are presented, as well as the general appearance, apparel and home goods in particular have achieved improved sales, according to Target CEO Brian Cornell.

But even those changes couldn’t make the difference for the closing stores. However, Target’s second quarter experienced almost 2.5 percent of a boost, trumping Macy’s and Walmart. As a result, Cornell hopes that by dumping the locations that aren’t up to par, he can do even better in the future.

The most recent effort in transforming the company involved cutting thousands of positions in Minneapolis, the headquarters of Target. That’s part of a savings plan, and the company also plans to invest a billion dollars in e-commerce to challenge Amazon and Walmart.

In addition to Target, J.C. Penny and Macy’s have announced closing stores.

And going beyond companies like Target who are closing only selected stores, Fresh & Easy is shutting down, while Haggen’s is shuttering many stores while keeping only selected locations open. The result is a boon for bargain hunters, reported the Review Journal.

Products at the stores are discounted between 10 percent to 60 percent now. However, Haggen as well as Fresh & Easy staff members revealed that as the time to shut down completely nears, discounts could climb to 75 percent.

For those who have been wanting to try usually out-of-range products such as cashew butter, it’s a time to experiment with prices slashed to 50 percent. All types of items are reduced, from children’s shampoo to wine to pudding cups.

[Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images]