Target anchors Buckeye shopping center with 148,000-square-foot store opening

Target’s first anchor at Verrado Marketplace will open Saturday as a 148,000-square-foot store built to do more than sell detergent and paper towels. The Buckeye, Arizona location at 1355 N. Verrado Way is expected to employ more than 140 team members and will keep long hours, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends.

The format gives Target a much broader operating footprint than a smaller store. Along with everyday essentials, fresh groceries and seasonal merchandise, the Buckeye site will include CVS Pharmacy, Target Optical, Starbucks, a Disney Store and an Apple retail concept. That mix points to a store where fulfillment, guest service, grocery, pharmacy and specialty retail all have to work in the same building from day one.

That matters because Verrado Marketplace is not a one-store story. The 500,000-square-foot development sits near the Verrado Way exit of Interstate 10, adjacent to the Verrado master-planned community, and Target will be the first anchor tenant to open. The first wave of openings also includes Buckle on May 13, Bath & Body Works on May 17, Famous Footwear on May 20, and Marshalls and HomeGoods on May 21. In other words, the traffic Target helps create will keep building as the center fills in.

For workers, that makes the Buckeye opening more than a ribbon-cutting. Target’s careers page shows active jobs tied to Buckeye Verrado, and the company says its 2026 capital investment plan includes new stores, more than 130 remodels and additional store payroll and training. A store this size usually demands more than a basic front-end and stockroom setup. It requires managers who can coordinate sales floor coverage, fulfillment, service counters and specialty areas while new hires learn the rhythms of a busy opening.

That is the real workforce story behind the opening: Target is using large-format stores as long-term operating hubs in fast-growing markets, not just as places to add square footage. In Buckeye, the company is betting that a bigger store, a denser tenant mix and a growing West Valley customer base will translate into sustained staffing needs long after opening week ends.