Target Offloads Tempe Offices While Facing Financial Trouble

Struggling retailer Target sold off property in the Phoenix area recently.

The retail giant sold its former office complex at 8530 South Priest Drive in Tempe for $20.5 million, the Phoenix Business Journal reported. The 188,960-square-foot offices span two two-story buildings on a 25.3-acre site. An additional 12.6 acres of vacant land next to the site was included in the sale. The sale price works out to $108 per square foot, or $541,000 per acre.

Target poured $8 million into renovating the office complex in 2019. But work-from-home orders during the pandemic meant its employees never ended up moving back in. The unidentified buyer plans to recruit a new office tenant and is working on a development plan for the adjacent empty land.

Target’s CEO Brian Cornell resigned after 11 years at the helm, following the release of its second-quarter results.

Target stores saw a drop in foot traffic and in the amount that shoppers spent per visit from the previous quarter. Same-store sales decreased 1.9 percent last quarter for the third consecutive three-month period, while profit tumbled about 20 percent, the New York Times reported. The company is predicting a “low-single-digit” decline in sales this year.

Target’s stock has also been spiraling this year.

Stock prices have fallen 31 percent since Jan. 24, when the company announced the rollback of its diversity, equity and inclusion programs that triggered a nationwide boycott. The drop from $137.40 to $97.06 at closing today wiped out more than $13 billion in market value, according to the American Bazaar. Its stock is among the worst-performing companies in the S&P 500 this year, per CNN.

Besides consumer backlash, Target — like other retailers across the country — has been dealing with ongoing tariffs. Target’s stock price fell to a 52-week low of $93 on April 3, the day after President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement.

Target appointed a new CEO, Michael Fiddelke, currently the company’s chief operating officer, who will step into his new role on Feb. 1. — Chris Malone Méndez