Target lays off 80 property-development employees

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Nancy Kuehn | MSPBJ

Target is slowing the growth of its traditional stores and instead opening more smaller formats, like this TargetExpress in Dinkytown.

Nick Halter

Staff reporter- Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal

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Target Corp. on Wednesday laid off 80 employees and said another 40 vacant positions will remain unfilled.

The cuts are related to the Minneapolis-based retailer's property-development division, the company said in an e-mail. They are based in the Twin Cities, though some employees worked in the field.

Today was the employees' last day, but spokeswoman Molly Snyder said they will remain on the payroll for 45 days in addition to receiving a severance.

Snyder said the company has completed major remodels of nearly 1,300 stores and has slowed the growth of its general merchandise stores. It's now focusing on smaller-format stores, like CityTarget and TargetExpress.

"As we open fewer general merchandise stores nationwide and focus more on smaller formats, we have made the decision to centralize our architecture, construction, engineering and facilities-management teams to best meet the needs of the business going forward," Synder wrote in an e-mail. "We believe these decisions, while difficult, are the right actions as we continue to transform our business, investing in key business areas to strengthen our ability to compete and thrive well into the future."

Target's last announced layoffs were in January, when it shed 475 employees from technology services, human resources, finance and marketing.

Nick Halter covers retail and sports business.