A soon-to-be Target store in Lake Bluff has already begun staffing for a late July opening.
“The actual flow of applications was lower than expected,” store manager Megan Kuiper said after a job fair May 20-22. “The hire rate is 40 percent, which is higher than we expected.”
Target held more than 140 interviews over the three-day fair. The store will continue to hire until it opens this summer or until it reaches about 200 employees. The majority of those positions are for part-timers ranging from 15 to 40 hours a week.
Drew Irvin, village administrator, said he is looking forward to increased property and tax revenue from the business. The property was empty about two years after a car dealership on the site was sold and then closed.
“It will once again be a revenue generator for the community,” Irvin said. “It also gives local consumers the ability to shop locally.”
The city and company worked out a ten-year sharing of sales tax. The village collects the first $250,000, Target gets the next $250,000 and anything above that is split between the village and Target.
“When the property was (previously) generating its highest taxes for the village (as a car dealership), it was right around $200,000,” Irvin said.