Much-anticipated downtown Pittsburgh Target officially opening doors mid-July

PITTSBURGH — This has been a long time coming! Target will officially open in downtown Pittsburgh along Smithfield Street and Forbes Avenue on Sunday, July 17.

Channel 11 spoke with businesses as well as those who live and work in downtown Pittsburgh.

They said Target will be a game changer for the city.

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On Tuesday, Channel 11 saw crews getting the store ready to go. Meanwhile, those returning to the office and working downtown are really looking forward to the big box retailer.

“I really excited to have a Target downtown cause I go to target at home but now I can come on my lunch hour and do a little shopping,” said Patrick Morello.

Officials said the Target will also offer a food market, so getting groceries will be more convenient for city residents.

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“As a downtown resident. I get on my scooter, and I take a bookbag and I scooter over to the Northside and go to that Giant Eagle but you can’t really buy a lot on a scooter. You can take the car but you have the hassle of parking and everything like that,” said Jason Bertochhi.

Restaurants like Gaucho said the retail store will give people more reasons to come downtown and will have a positive impact despite the recent violence.

“I think by bringing more people downtown to go shopping, that’s going to give them something to do in the afternoon and they will want to go eat and get a drink so I think the foot traffic downtown will increase significantly,” said Don Doherty, the manager at Gaucho.

Channel 11 spoke with the retail broker who helped make this happen. He expects the store to be a huge success.

“Target certainly had every excuse in the world with the pandemic to put this on hold or take a step back lets or pull the plug. They certainly didn’t do that. That just speaks volumes with their confidence level in downtown Pittsburgh which is fantastic,” said John Jackson, a retail brother at CBRE.

The broker also said the store will help attract other quality retailers to the city.

Channel 11 reached out to Target for comment on the store opening, but are still waiting to hear back.

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