South Coast's First Location Draws Community Leaders, Family and Friends of Employees

The South Coast’s first Target store opened its doors Tuesday evening to community leaders, members of the press, and friends and family of employees. Located at State Street and La Cumbre, the two-story 30,000-square-foot store is one of the chain’s larger small format stores, with all of the usual Target departments (plus groceries, minus pharmacy and Starbucks), with a smaller selection. “Instead of 20 different types of toilet paper, we have five”, said store director Allison Lopez.

Some of the surrounding traffic lanes have been reconfigured for the traffic it’s anticipated to bring; locals have also raised concerns about parking, as the building’s lot only offers 91 spaces. Lopez encourages customers to take advantage of the store’s bike parking, as well, and points out that the store’s size allows for more frequent parking turnover. “We’re not the giant Target you’re gonna get lost in for three hours”, she said.

The store donated $3,000 each to the United Way and Santa Barbara Zoo at Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, where Mayor Cathy Murillo thanked Target for creating jobs and contributing to the local economy. The store expects to employ 60 to 80 workers and is still hiring.

“I encourage everyone to come shop,” said Mayor “I’m gonna go get my purse after this.”

She wasn’t the only one ready to buy. “I am so happy, I’m gonna cry,” said Amy Joy Lashmet, 27. “There’s just so much that Target offers at affordable prices that’s on trend”and you can get everything in one place. It’s my happy place. It’s where I go when I want to de-stress.”

The store is now officially open to the public, but will have its grand opening celebration on Sunday, giving reusable shopping bags to the first 1,000 customers.

The Goleta Target will be more than 100,000 square feet, and is expected to open in October.