On Target in Boulder

Target Corp. (Minneapolis) announced that the city of Boulder, Colo., had approved the retailer's plan to expand its current 30-year-old Target store there.

The discount retailer wants to add 17,126 square feet to the front of its location near 28th and Pearl streets. The extra space will house a Starbucks, a pharmacy, a redesigned one-hour photo shop and a revamped snack bar.

“I think it's not only going to be great for Target, but it's also going to be appreciated by the guests,” said Brie Heath, a Target spokeswoman.

The plans also will redesign the parking area and driveways used by vehicles, improve bicycle and pedestrian connections to the store and update the building's exterior, including some new landscaping. Work to connect 29th Street with the neighboring Crossroads Mall's redevelopment plan is also included.

Target still must go through a final approval stage, in which anyone from the public or the city's planning board could “call up” Friday's approval — meaning it would be nullified and put before the board for approval — during a 14-day period.

Target began expansion discussions with Boulder in October 2001. After Kmart left Boulder in December 2001, and Sears shuttered its Crossroads Mall location this past January, Target became Boulder's only remaining national discount department store.