 This Target store at the Milton Shopping Centre will open Tuesday, March 5, 2012. (MICHAEL PEAKE/Toronto Sun)
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MILTON, Ont. — Target is hoping for sweet success in Canada, so it’s fitting the first item sold at the discount retailer’s store in this Toronto-area town was a bag of candy.
The discount retailer had “soft openings” at three Ontario locations — Milton, Guelph and Fergus — Tuesday, with more openings set to take place early next month.
About 200 people — including one person who camped out overnight in a tent — were outside the Guelph store when its doors opened. The lineup at the Milton store was about 60 deep at 8 a.m.
The Milton throng calmly made its way inside to check out Target’s wares, led by shoppers Jay Walia — who arrived around 7 a.m., early enough to become first in line.
“I just wanted to see the quality, what they are going to give to us. I heard across the border their prices are pretty good,” said Walia, who added he was looking for summer clothing.
Some, who were expecting more deals, will likely have to wait until the April 1 grand opening to be wowed.
“I wasn’t that impressed with the deals,” said Jessica Hewitt, a regular Target shopper when in the U.S. “The prices weren’t as low as the States; I thought they’d have a lot of first-day sales and it was just sort of typical, not that different than Zellers.”
The pilot stores are the first of at least 125 Target locations in Canada in former Zellers locations. After starting in Ontario, the expansion is expected to continue into the rest of the country.
Recap of the live coverage of the Target openings in Milton and Guelph Tuesday morning:
