Retail World Sees Ups and Downs as Target and Best Buy Have Different Agendas in the Bay Area

Two Bay Area Best Buy locations are about to close after the company announced plans to close 42 locations around the country. The latest locations to close are placed in Pittsburg and East Palo Alto, with additional sites being prepped to be terminated in Manteca and another four locations across California. The company officially announced on the 29th of March that it is closing 50 stores, part of a company-wide change of strategy.

In contrast to Best Buy’s move, Target Corp. is in the middle of expanding in the Bay Area with reports by The San Francisco Business Times mentioning the recent acquisition of a 10-acre site in Petaluma. Target will start development of their new location to match the summer 2013 opening of Regency Centers’ East Washington Place. Coincidentally, Regency was the seller in the aforementioned land deal. Target’s policy concerning its new Petaluma location is no surprise considering the Minneapolis-based retailer usually owns its stores.

The 140,000 square-foot store will anchor Regency’s 378,000 shopping center located at the intersection of Kenilworth Drive and East Washington Street. During the past 18 months, Target has accelerated its expansion with brand new branches in Emeryville, Dublin and Fremont with additional locations having in-development stores, such as the Metreon.