West Dundee Target closing

Target in West Dundee will close in early May, a move one official said puts the village in a “difficult situation,” as it means a significant chunk of sales tax revenue will go up in smoke.

“We were just getting used to the loss of Best Buy and this is another blow to the village’s finances,” village Finance Director Dave Danielson said. “We’re always waiting for the positive. It seems like we just keep getting hit with the negative.”

Target announced Friday it would close seven other stores across the country May 3 for financial reasons. Those other locations are in Nevada, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida and Ohio.

Target is among the village’s top five generators of sales tax in West Dundee and the pain could range between $300,000 and $400,000 in lost sale tax revenue, Danielson said. He characterized Target as a “major player” in the village’s retail base.

The West Dundee store opened in July 1994 and employs approximately 100 people, Target spokesman Joshua Carter said.

“This decision was made after careful consideration of the store’s long-term performance expectations,” Carter said.

Employees of the affected stores who meet the company’s transfer policy requirements will be offered an opportunity to transfer to a similar position at a nearby Target location, Carter said. He declined to give further details.

The closure in West Dundee comes nearly two years after Best Buy, formerly next to the Target, shut its doors. The village was expecting to generate $2 million in sales tax revenue this year, a figure already down $100,000 from a year ago.

Rumors about Target closing the West Dundee store have been swirling for eight years and Target never told the village about the closure announced Friday, Village Manager Joseph Cavallaro said.

“This is news to us, so putting together an economic replacement for Target will obviously be a high priority for the village,” Cavallaro said.

Nearby Target stores are in Algonquin, Elgin and Hoffman Estates.

West Dundee Village President Chris Nelson sees the closure as an opportunity for the village, which recently hired a retail consultant to bring more businesses to the village. Plans are also in place to annex a portion of Randall Road into the town, secure other parcels for retail and more.

“I’m optimistic about the future of the community,” Nelson said, characterizing Target as a good corporate neighbor. “This is a sad event, but overall, I think things are going to turn around for us.”

Friday’s announcement was part of an update on the company’s recent security breach and its expected fourth-quarter financial performance.

Target’s investigation determined customer information stolen between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15 includes names, mailing addresses, phone numbers or email addresses for up to 110 million people, the company said.