First store in Buzz Westfall Plaza on the Boulevard
Officials from St. Louis County, the St. Louis County Economic Council, the City of Jennings and Target Corp. recently took part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of the first store in the new 500,000-square-foot, $60 million Buzz Westfall Plaza on the Boulevard, former site of the Northland Shopping Center.
“We are thrilled to welcome Target to Jennings and celebrate the first milestone in opening the Buzz Westfall Plaza on the Boulevard,” said St. Louis County Executive Charlie A. Dooley.
“This development will increase access to quality shopping and services for residents in North County, while also increasing job opportunities and encouraging further economic growth.”
According to Target Store Manager Mike Cramer, the 124,000-square-foot Target is a perfect fit for Jennings.
“The community has expressed a great deal of enthusiasm in the weeks and months preceding the store’s opening, and we’re excited and pleased to provide our services in this area,” Cramer said.
Plaza on the Boulevard is located off Lucas & Hunt Road at West Florissant Avenue, one mile north of Interstate 70. The developer of the 67-acre site is Sansone Group, a commercial real estate developer based in Clayton. The new development replaces the once-flourishing Northland Shopping Center, which was built in 1955 and closed in 1994.
According to Sansone Group, Plaza on the Boulevard will create 1,000 permanent jobs upon completion. Almost 290,000 people live within a five-mile radius of the shopping center. Additionally, there are nearly 22,000 students who attend the nearby St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley and University of Missouri-St. Louis.
In addition to Target, Plaza on the Boulevard will be anchored by a 63,000-square-foot Schnucks Supermarket and house several other stores and businesses. Outlying lots were developed a few years ago and now feature an office building and Aldi grocery store.
Target operates more than 1,400 stores in 47 states, including more than 30 in Missouri. The first store opened in 1962 in Roseville, Minn. The NAACP recently called on blacks to boycott Target because it refused to answer the civil rights group’s diversity survey.
