Where did all these Target workers come from? Annual meeting brings influx to downtown Minneapolis

Target workers are painting the town red and filling downtown Minneapolis exit ramps this week.

Thousands of red-shirted Target corporate employees and store leaders from around the country are in downtown Minneapolis for the company's annual fall meeting. The event coincides with one of the retailer's quarterly, work-in-the-office "core weeks" for those who usually work in the Twin Cities.

On Tuesday, commuters likely noticed the traffic backups to get into downtown as well as long lines at parking ramps. Some downtown businesses were seeing an increase in foot traffic as a result.

"This morning we've been swamped with Target employees sporting red and tan," said Justin Bedford, co-founder of Cardigan Donuts.

The donut shop, which has locations in the IDS Center and City Center towers, saw a large uptick Monday and Tuesday in walk-in sales and pre-orders using the shop's skyway delivery service, with many orders going to one of Target's three buildings or vendor offices, Bedford said.

Corner Coffee, which is across Nicollet Mall from the downtown Target store and close to Target's corporate offices, was bustling Tuesday morning with customers with Target badges looking for caffeine fixes.

"It's great to see so many Target people downtown," said Greg Barber, the coffee shop's co-owner.

Target employees have traditionally been a major part of downtown Minneapolis' weekday population. But since the pandemic, many of its headquarters employees have worked from home as the company encouraged a hybrid work model similar to other corporate giants. Late last year, Target asked Minneapolis employees to start spending at least one week per quarter working out of its downtown offices.

"From Sept. 9-12, thousands of Target team members from across the Twin Cities, the country and our global offices will gather in Minneapolis for our annual fall company meeting," a company statement said. "Target's annual company meeting coincides with one of four core weeks for Target's headquarters team during 2024. While thousands of team members work from our Twin Cities offices each week, these core weeks provide additive time and space to collaborate and connect. It's one component of our hybrid work model that balances in-person and virtual work, providing the team with flexibility in how they collaborate."

The closed-door company meeting is usually centered on team-building with a lineup of guest speakers and activities to celebrate and inspire workers. The event has hosted top-secret surprise guests in the past such as Oprah, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé. It remains to be seen if any high-profile celebrities will show up this week.

In 2020, 2021 and 2022, the annual fall meeting was virtual as businesses did more meetings online to protect employees from COVID-19. Last year, employees returned for the event in person.

As part of the festivities, Target worked to have several food trucks on Nicollet Mall. On Tuesday, there were noticeably more employees along the pedestrian street, many sporting red T-shirts, as Target hosted its company-wide meeting at Target Center.

"We are expecting to be selling out," said Salma Habib, owner of the Philicious Phillys food truck, as she prepped for the busy lunch hour.

Habib was parked in front of the Target Plaza Commons on Nicollet Mall as she helped her food truck neighbor Pharaoh's Gyros shave lamb meat. The foot traffic in downtown Minneapolis is slowly getting better, and companies like Target bringing their workers back to the office even once in awhile helps businesses, she said.

"It takes time, but it's starting to get back again [to what it used to be]," Habib said.

Thabt Mohamed, owner of Pharaoh's Gyros, said downtown traffic has improved this summer, though it can be difficult to get enough customers if there isn't a big enough concentration of food trucks and choice offerings in one spot.

Downtown Minneapolis has seen sporadic moments of recovery. In February, the area saw the largest post-pandemic rebound of year-over-year traffic out of 64 major cities in the U.S. and Canada, based on cellphone activity, one study found. Downtown has seen noticeable increases in foot traffic when Target has had one of its "core weeks" and when there are major events such as the U.S. Olympic trials for women's and men's gymnastics in June.

"We were a little hesitant to move into downtown, but overall, it has exceeded our expectations, and we are thankful to be a part of making downtown a place worth being," said Barber, who opened Corner Coffee at the Young-Quinlan building this spring.

So far this year, Cardigan Donuts' highest sales weeks have coincided with Target's quarterly office returns and Big Ten college basketball tournaments.

"We would absolutely love to see Target employees back downtown on a more regular basis," Bedford said.