“Columbia Heights Target has begun a massive renovation”

by Prince Of Petworth April 7, 2016 at 11:00 am 52 Comments

Target

Thanks to Korie for sending word:

“Columbia Heights Target has begun a massive renovation and upgrade project.”

Here’s to hoping for more tube socks!! What changes would you like to see at the Target?

Hill Denizen

The store is fine, it’s the indifferent bordering on rude customer service, empty shelves, and general disorder that annoys me.
- FridayGirl
  
  Yeah. I actually kind of liked the layout of the store vs. the many other targets I’ve been to. But they do need to work on the inventory.
  - Rich
    
    I occasionally visit the one in Rockville–they have the same out of stock problems. The service is fine. This isn’t Bloomingdale’s.
    - Hill Denizen
      
      I don’t need someone to be out of their way nice. Just look me in the face when I ask you a question and don’t mumble your answer as you walk away (the latest annoyance from my most recent visit).
      - pacerguy00
        
        +1
        
        I avoid this shopping center at all costs. All the stores have the same hiring pratices (bordering on rude customer service) and to say the shelves are in a constant disarray is an understatement. It legit looks like the place was looted. I’ve never had that issue at the Target in Hyattsville or Bethesda.
- CoHi
  
  +1
- Philippe Lecheval
  
  It’s also unfortunate that it shares a neighborhood with some fairly uncivilized folks, necessitating the police state atmosphere.
  - FridayGirl
    
    ? I literally have never felt unsafe in this Target or like it’s a ‘police state.’ And uncivilized? Is that what we’re calling lower income people of color now?
    - logan
      
      No, it’s what we call people who act uncivilized. aka those who can’t help themselves from verbally abusing people and throwing their trash on the ground.
      - Andrew
        
        That reminds me: what’s with the rampant littering in DC? I’ve never witnessed this in other places I’ve lived.
    - Anonamom
      
      Also have never felt unsafe here, or that it was a “police state”, though I will give you that my kids can act highly uncivilized when told no, you will not be getting that toy today.
    - HaileUnlikely
      
      I find plenty of white people who I doubt are low-income acting uncivilized in Target. The environment of Target (and also Whole Foods) seems to bring out the worst in a lot of young white people in DC, who act like they’re participating in roller derby or something.
      - DC1
        
        Yeaaaah … right. I’m sure it happens to you all the time, Haile. All. the. time. All those “young white people” (your words) you’ve undoubtedly witnessed throwing trash about, drinking and doing drugs outside the CoHi metro, accosting passersby, and generally carrying on in Target and its environs. When will the people of this city stand up to the uncivilized behavior of these young so-called professionals?
      - DupontDC
        
        Agree with DC1 on the call out here. This is just not true. Annoyingly self absorbed on cell phones while trying to maneuver through a store? Yes. Uncivilized? No
      - HaileUnlikely
        
        I’m a middle-aged white guy. My point was that, without further specification as to what “uncivilized” means, the use of that word does not necessarily imply that the speaker is using a dog whistle for “low-income people of color.” And on the whole, young self-absorbed/uncivilized/whatever white people detract from my shopping experience here a lot more than do “low-income people of color.” I am not saying this applies everywhere I go, but at Target it definitely does.
      - HaileUnlikely
        
        p.s. The ordering and positioning of posts doesn’t make this particularly clear, but this was intended to be in direct response to the exchange beween Philipe and FridayGirl above where Philipe makes a comment about the neighborhood having a lot of uncivilized folks and FridayGirl taking that as implying something about low-income people of color.
      - Anonamom
        
        Personally, my definition of civility also extends to common courtesy and not being a general asshole. I can speak from personal experience and say that the only race of people who have ever cut in front of me in that long ass line at Target, stepped on one of my kids or knocked one of my kids down in that very Target, were white people, one mindlessly on their cellphone as Dupont calls “annoying”. As far as littering goes in general? Yep, PLENTY of white people doing that too. Verbal harassment of women? DEFINITELY a white people thing too. Non-white people certainly DO NOT have the corner on lack of civility, at the Target, in Columbia Heights, or in the world for that matter.
    - Josh
      
      Come on, don’t immediately jump on the race-wagon. The uncivilized people would be those verbally accosting women, aggressively panhandling, littering, and generally acting uncivilized.
      - DupontDC
        
        #1
    - Philippe Lecheval
      
      No, it’s what we’re calling people who shoplift and otherwise cause chaos in the store. Most lower income people of color do neither.
      - FridayGirl
        
        Ok. Fine then. You said “shares a neighborhood with” not “the people in Target,” so it sounded like a more questionable claim than it apparently was meant to be…
  - Anonymous
    
    Are you serious? Sure there are undesirables but a “police state “?
  - anon
    
    wow leave now please
- It’s just me
  
  Maybe I’m shopping in the wrong departments. I live around the corner and go there all the time. I’ve never found something I want out of stock or misplaced. I’ve also never felt unsafe or like other shoppers were any sort of problem. And it definitely does not feel like a police state. Most of what I’ve encountered is what I’d encounter at any other Target – people shopping. Sometimes people block the entire aisle while they do it, but that happens when I go to the Target out in VA, too.
lucie

actually having things in stock? a place for them to clean their shopping carts so they aren’t permanently covered in a layer of schmutz?
- jeslett
  
  And get rid of the frustrating bottle neck where the carts stick out near the food thing and leaves space for two people to walk through. For some reason, this is where everyone stops, like tourists at the bottom of a metro escalator.
- Hill Denizen
  
  Ugh, last time I was there I tried three shopping carts. All three had trash in them. I ended up just picking the least gross one and throwing out the trash myself.
CoHi

I’m always puzzled by the layout of the home improvement-type stuff at the store. I know a lot of it is upstairs, but then a lot of it is in their “seasonal” section in the back of the first floor. I know lawn care stuff is seasonal, but I always get annoyed that the lightbulbs are nowhere near the insecticide, etc.
- FridayGirl
  
  I always felt like the first floor was “every day items” and the second floor was more of a “once in a blue moon” section where there’s less of a need to grab-and-go.
- hammers
  
  seconded. this also goes for storage type things. some are by the lightbulbs, some are upstairs by the vaccuums.
- Rich
  
  Targets are usually pretty weak for all kinds of hard goods, which may be why a lot of it is shunted to seasonal. A trip to Lowes or Home depot is usually a better use of time.
  - CoHi
    
    Agreed, but none of those are two blocks from my home. A trek to Home Depot to buy 4 light bulbs and a bottle of mosquito fogger seems like a bit too much effort. I agree that for real tools, etc., a hardware store is a better bet.
Tarjay

Cleaner shopping carts and baskets- SECONDED
I know it’s not a “super” Target but I do wish they’d have better quality of produce.
CC

The only reliable things about this Target are that half of what I need won’t be in stock, and I’ll have to go fishing for my own shopping basket among the checkout lines.
- binpetworth
  
  Yep. Would love for them to have baskets somewhere actually near the front of the store, and for their staff to keep a look out and restock baskets as necessary.
Eric Luntz

Shorter lines
Anonamom

I spend an inordinate amount of time and money at Target stores in Maryland, and our one here in DC. There are aspects of this Target that I just chop up to being in the city. I don’t hate the layout, and find it similar to other stores. I don’t even hate the staff. Personally, I have always had good experiences with the staff. I hate the lines, but if you’d like to gain some perspective, I encourage you to visit Walmart any day of the week, any time. This is discount retail in DC, after all. I dislike how the food section is laid out, and I never by produce or meat from there unless it is per-packaged and air tight, and even then it’s once in a blue moon. I do, happily, buy these items at other Targets, I just would rather not injects rat urine or feces.
Personally, I would like to see them cater to their market more. Like, for example, having school uniform pieces available year round. In other Targets where there is a high concentration of kids wearing uniforms to school, you can pretty much guarantee to be able to walk in and buy a whit polo shirt any time of year, not so at the Columbia Heights Target where you’re lucky to find one in September. Also, ever try to buy pull-ups at Target? Apparently they expect every child to by fully potty trained before they way 30 lbs, because your size options are pretty much 3T and under. I never bought diapers there, but Safeway has a better selection.
textdoc

“What changes would you like to see at the Target?”
.
Free parking with validation. It annoys the hell out of me that they don’t do this.
.
I don’t know if they can do much about the general crowdedness and stressful atmosphere. Every time I think about going to this Target, I have a feeling of dread. For that reason, I go here only occasionally to pick up an item or two after work, and do my full-on Target shopping out in the ‘burbs.
.
I have also started going more frequently to the Georgia Avenue Walmart, which I feel ethically conflicted about.
- FridayGirl
  
  I also have a feeling of dread at the crowdedness, but I assumed that was just part of being in the densest part of the city.
  .
  Also, if you’re an early riser on the weekends, I can attest that they’ve consistently had good stock and no lines around 9am-10am (which is when I try to go). It’s a LOT better before mid-morning.
  - CVR
    
    I always plan my trips for Saturday morning and yes sometimes the lines are a bit long but never terrible. And I can almost always find the items on my list. I buy most of my household/toiletry items there so I’m in there a couple times a month usually.
- No parking
  
  Why should the parking be free? The complex would then have to raise rents on tenants, which would then raise prices on everyone, so you can save $2 when you drive there.
  - textdoc
    
    The parking at DCUSA is underutilized — I don’t think the complex is supporting itself via parking fees.
    .
    “Why should the parking be free?” The Best Buy/Container Store/Bed Bath & Beyond in Tenleytown, which I believe was the first complex of big-box stores to open in D.C., has free parking with validation. IMO, DCUSA should’ve followed its lead.
17th Street

For my purposes, I hope they are not expanding the grocery section. I don’t use it since I live far enough away that I am not schlepping foodstuffs home from there, when I have a Safeway much closer.

I haven’t noticed so much a problem with empty shelves, but it is always crowded so maybe they do have a hard time keeping things stocked.
Kathryn-DC

That bottleneck at the store entrance has always worried me with regard to fire evacuation and general traffic flow. Other than that, I was there the first day and accepted that they have space limitations.
Thought

How is it that in 2016 Target still can’t keep items on the shelves? Weren’t computerized inventory control systems created back with the first bar code?
Back in the 90’s I read an article about Home Depot implementing a scan system for everything that came in the store. They matched that with what was sold at the register, and adjusted deliveries accordingly. It was revolutionary at the time.
In 2016 Target still hasn’t figured that out.
Thank God for Amazon.
- textdoc
  
  “How is it that in 2016 Target still can’t keep items on the shelves?”
  .
  Surely it can be traced back to Brianne Nadeau?
  .
  ;)
  - Thought
    
    Well played, textdoc. Well played. ; )
    .
    (sorry for the delay)
KP

This admittedly has nothing to do with layout changes, but I’ve been in this Target a number of times at different times of the day when there have been no open express lanes. There should ALWAYS be at least one express lane open… When I have 3 items total, I don’t want to wait behind people with full carts.
- anon
  
  Interesting, I am in here a minimum of once a week. Sometimes at 8am on Friday other times after work and, only if I’m desperate, on a Saturday afternoon. The one and only time I didn’t see an express lane open in 3 years was when I walked in at 8:05 in the morning.
Targetlover

Smaller shopping carts. Those mega clunkers can barely even fit down the aisle, especially when there’s a cart in the other lane. They need the smaller, 2 tier cart options found at their city target location, like Rosalyn. Their cafe area could use an overhaul too.
saf

How long have they been open? Doesn’t seem like very long.
- west_egg
  
  3/5/2008. I suppose 8 years is about time for a revamp in retail years. From what I can tell they seem to be moving shelving around in certain areas; replacing some signage; and taking down the neon bullseyes from the walls, which they’re repainting a light shade of grey and lighting indirectly. That’s about all I noticed on Monday, anyway.

Subscribe to our mailing list