After 13 weeks of remodeling, the Target at El Con Mall will officially introduce its "PFresh" section on Sunday, the first of its kind in Tucson for the chain.
PFresh, or prototype-fresh, is what Target calls its expanded grocery and perishables format that provides a selection of fresh produce, meats and baked goods.
Since 2008, Target has gradually been expanding grocery sections in existing stores to provide 50 to 200 percent more food categories than existed before the remodelings.
More than 300 Target stores have now converted to the PFresh format.
In addition to El Con, another five in Arizona, in Flagstaff and Phoenix, are opening the larger grocery sections.
The El Con store shrank certain merchandise areas, such as household products and apparel, to create the area for PFresh.
People are also reading…
"We are a neighborhood store, but also a university store," said Melissa Weinstein, team leader for the El Con store. "Target decided that this will be the first and best store to have PFresh in the Tucson area."
The format is different from full-grocery Super Targets, such as the one at 4040 N. Oracle Road. "We don't have a meat counter, deli counter and bakery, so everything is packed," Weinstein explained.
Customers will be able to get fruit, bagged vegetables and pre-packed deli foods.
They'll also find Target-owned brands, such as Archer Farms and Market Pantry.
"Beers are a couple dollars cheaper than Fry's and Chinese noodles are 30 cents cheaper than other stores," said Susie McCain, a customer who shopped this week in the PFresh section at El Con. "And I also like the shopping environment there."
McCain considers the El Con Target a place for shopping for quick grocery items because the choices are too limited to cover her weekly shopping list.
"Our guests … desire one-stop shopping availability at Target," said Weinstein. "We are expecting to see another increase of 6 percent in sales after opening PFresh."
Analysts say PFresh, which takes Target's selection beyond dry groceries, is a direct response to competitor Walmart.
"Walmart has been doing food sales about 10 years, and its stores focus on neighborhood so much that store size and the products it carries vary based on the market it targets," said Bob Vosburgh, a group editor at Supermarket News. "The PFresh format is rolling out … and it is still early to say if the new business model of Target can compete with its chief rival."
IF YOU GO
• When: 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday.
• Where: Target at El Con Mall, 3699 E. Broadway.
• What: Grand opening of its expanded grocery section.
Ziniu Chen is a University of Arizona journalism student apprenticing at the Star. Contact him at starapprentice@azstarnet.com or 573-4663.
