90 jobs to be cut as Seattle Targets shutter next month

Ninety Seattle workers will be affected by the Target closures in Ballard and the University District, according to a Washington State Employment Security Department filing Friday.

Target has said the employees will be able to transfer to other locations. In the notice, the company said 90 positions would be lost due to the closures.

On Friday, Target spokesperson Jim Joice reiterated the company’s earlier assertion that the Ballard and U District workers would transfer to other locations. “No one,” he said, “is being laid off.”

The Ballard Target, at 1448 N.W. Market St., and the U District store, at 4535 University Way N.E., will close Oct. 21. Twenty-two stores employing nearly 4,000 people will remain open in the Seattle area.

The Minneapolis-based retailer announced Tuesday that it was closing two Seattle stores, along with seven others in Portland; San Francisco; Oakland, Calif.; and New York. At the time, the company cited safety concerns affecting guests and employees “and contributing to unsustainable business performance.”

The Northgate Target location, the closest to Ballard, has had the most calls to service and the most police reports filed, according to city records.

The retailer declined to disclose why it chose the two locations, which are considered small-format stores — a more compact Target suited for dense urban areas.

Target opened the Ballard and U District stores in 2019, along with a Bellevue store, as part of a broader strategy to expand the small-format business model. In 2020, the company opened 29 small-format stores nationwide.

All retailers contend with shoplifting causing shrink, or loss of inventory, and leading to billions of dollars lost. Shrinkage for total retail sales in 2022 reached $112.1 billion, up from $93.9 billion in losses in 2021, according to a study released Tuesday by the trade group National Retail Federation. Statewide, the Washington Retail Association says theft costs businesses $2.7 billion a year.