The long-awaited, and long-contested, opening of the Northfield Target is close at hand as the store is scheduled to open for business on October 8. Store manager Vicki Rice says the Grand Opening celebration will include fireworks and celebrities, as yet unnamed.

Many Northfield businesses are specialty shops whose inventory overlaps with the merchandise Target will carry. Critics of the new Target say that further development may lead to the spread of suburban sprawl into Northfield and have a negative effect on downtown businesses.

Concerning the controversy that accompanied the passing of the Planned Developmental Zone referendum last year, Rice commented that there have been no problems with the community "other than the general stuff that was going on."

Bob Jacobsen, owner of JacobsenŐs, a Northfield department store, says he does not anticipate direct competition with Target. "TheyŐre supposed to be so good theyŐll draw people. We hope that the people who come will come and see something different about downtown Northfield." He compares his and other downtown stores to "coming into a museum or a small town comfort station," and says many customers still look for the personal service small businesses offer.

The new Target will be located across from K-mart at the intersection of Highway 3 and County Road 1 and will be open from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. daily.