Target is coming to Vermont, the retailer announced on Thursday. The state will see its first-ever Target — a 60,000 square-foot store in South Burlington — open its doors in 2018.
This means that by this time next year all 50 states will have at least one Target store.
That news did not go over well with some of the residents who Vermont Public News reporter Taylor Dobbs talked to today.
https://twitter.com/taylordobbs/status/921029690294439937
https://twitter.com/taylordobbs/status/921029750558265344
https://twitter.com/taylordobbs/status/921034514675019776
This opposition didn’t start today, following the announcement. Some state residents have been fighting what they see as an invasion of the big box store for years.
There have been rumblings about Target expanding into the Green Mountain State going back to 2010, but under Vermont’s Act 250 — a law that allows local communities to have more control over development decisions than in most other states — a plan to set up a store unraveled in 2012 due to pushback from residents.
After Burlington expressed some interest in 2015, the company finally succeeded in establishing a store in the state. This new store will employ about 75 people, Target said, and Vermont Gov. Phil Scott was upbeat about the news.
“While we may be the last state to join the Target family, we know they will quickly become part of the Vermont community, and look forward to seeing its long-term success in the state,” he said in the company’s press release.
And he wasn’t the only one.
Wow, Vermont is really, really happy about getting its first @Target pic.twitter.com/NDCjNZXchH
— Jake Schneider (@jacobkschneider) October 19, 2017
Another Twitter user made the argument that the furor over the big box retailer opening a location in South Burlington is quintessential Vermont, and really, something to love.
https://twitter.com/wetandnauti/status/921057783021293568