Zellers at Haney Place Mall will be converted to a Target store by winter 2013.
Workers have been told that Zellers at Haney Place Mall will close Feb. 11, Hudson’s Bay Company spokesperson Tiffany Bourré said Tuesday.
She didn’t want to say how many employees will be affected, but the average Zellers location employs about 100 people.
Once the store is vacant, Minneapolis-based Target Corp., which is taking over the lease, along with another 125 Zellers locations across Canada, will begin its renovations.
That will be about a six- to nine-month process that likely will see it open by fall or winter 2013.
Zellers employees are not guaranteed a job with Target, but they have been granted an initial interview when Target starts its hiring.
Each location usually has about 150 to 200 employees, said Lisa Gibson, also with Target
“All Zellers employees who apply for a job at Target during the opening cycles in 2013 will be guaranteed an initial interview,” she said.
“The store will employ approximately 150-200 team members and hiring for store team members will begin in 2013.”
Target has already applied for its renovation permits with the District of Maple Ridge.
Target will spend $10 million to $11 million to remodel the large brick structure at the corner of 224th Street and Lougheed Highway in downtown Maple Ridge.
Plans are to renovate the inside and outside of the aging Zellers location, as well as expand the west end of the store and put a new entrance on that side, facing 224th Street.
The store is currently about 85,000 square feet, making it smaller than the usual Targets in the U.S., which are about 135,000 sq. feet.
Adding a two-storey expansion of about 26,455 sq. feet would result in a total space of 111,000 sq. feet.
Interior renovations are part of the project, while the outside will get new materials and colours, as well as the Target logo. However, most of the exterior walls are to retain the existing brick exterior.
The parking lot in the west end of the mall will be largely unchanged, although some new landscaped islands and grocery cart corrals will be added.
The project will qualify for Maple Ridge’s downtown incentive program that gives tax and fee reductions to spark development.
Last year, Target purchased the leasehold interest in the Haney Place Mall site, which is currently operated by Zellers Inc.
Target has 1,764 stores across the United States.
Meanwhile, renovations of Haney Place Mall’s south side are ongoing, as Thrifty Foods is expected to open in the next few months.
