A new Target store near Navy Pier is slated to be the first in the nation to not only sell packaged alcohol but serve it in the store.
Target has applied for a Consumption on Premises liquor license for its new store under construction at 401 E. Illinois St. in Streeterville, according to city records.
A spokeswoman for Minneapolis-based Target confirmed the retail giant applied for a license to serve liquor in the new Chicago store but declined to elaborate. A nearby Whole Foods Market has a wine bar and also serves beer and liquor in the store.
Besides potentially having an in-store bar, the Target due to open Oct. 7 will be the first smaller-format store in Chicago.
The 24,000-square-foot shop in the former Fox & Obel space will be less than one-fifth the size of a traditional Target, house a Starbucks and carry merchandise geared toward neighborhood shoppers, Target has said.
It will also have a pharmacy, grab-and-go sandwiches and salads, personal care and beauty products in smaller sizes, and home items useful to apartment and condo dwellers, like storage units.
In response to input from Streeterville shoppers, Chicago’s store will emphasize men’s and women’s apparel, mostly from Target-owned brands like Mossimo and Merona that will be placed prominently at the front, Target has said.
The liquor license application, dated Aug. 24, is called a Consumption on Premises — Incidental Activity License. It is often used for restaurants, hotels, banquet halls, theaters and bowling alleys that would like to sell liquor as a secondary activity to their main business, according to the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. The $4,400 license must be renewed every two years.
Target also applied on the same day to sell packaged liquor at the new store.
Crain’s Chicago Business first reported the license application.
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