Target Opens 55th New Jersey Location at West Orange Plaza

A 150,000-square-foot Target does not run itself. The West Orange store that held its grand opening on March 29 at 235 Prospect Avenue is New Jersey's 55th Target location and one of the largest single retail hiring events Essex County has seen this year, with roughly 280 team members needed to cover a building larger than two football fields across a 15-hour operating day, 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.

For anyone considering a position there, the pay spread tells the real story: $18 to $27 per hour. At the lower end sit the cashier, sales floor, stock, and security roles that had listings still posted after opening weekend. At the higher end are the Expert and Team Lead positions that a store of this scale demands across multiple departments, including General Merchandise, Inbound, Food Service, and Fulfillment Operations.

That fulfillment side is where the workload diverges most sharply from a smaller-format location. West Orange is built for Drive Up, Order Pickup, and same-day delivery through Target Circle 360, with next-day delivery available across West Orange. Target COO John Mulligan has pointed publicly to exactly this type of store, with a larger footprint specifically designed to support same-day omnichannel volume. On peak weekends, a store this size can generate hundreds of Drive Up and Order Pickup transactions per shift, requiring a dedicated fulfillment team working at pace and separately from the sales floor.

The Fulfillment Operations Team Lead role, which carries its own hiring pipeline at large-format stores, is among the clearest paths from hourly work to a salaried leadership track at Target. Style, Tech, and Beauty Consultants represent another route for team members with specialty product knowledge, particularly relevant in a store that also houses a CVS Pharmacy, Starbucks café, and Target Optical.

The site itself carries a layered history. A Kmart once occupied the footprint; Essex County converted the vacant building into a COVID-19 vaccination center during the pandemic. The new Target soft-opened March 24, a few days ahead of the formal grand opening, as West Orange residents had been watching construction closely for months.

West Orange Plaza, managed by Levin Management Corp. of North Plainfield, is midway through a multi-million-dollar property-wide renovation. The 298,000-square-foot center sits at the intersection of Eagle Rock and Prospect avenues, just off I-280, anchored by a Whole Foods supermarket. Sidney Singer, LMC's vice president of leasing, described the arrival as "an exciting step in the property's evolution" that "reinforces West Orange Plaza's strength as a retail destination."

West Orange is one of three Targets to open in New Jersey within the past year; Jersey City received a new location the same month. With 55 stores now active in the Garden State, the regional network is dense enough that transfers between locations and movement into district-level roles are realistic medium-term options for team members building tenure.

The $27 ceiling in the current pay range represents a meaningful wage for Essex County retail work, and it sits at the intersection of store leadership and the omnichannel demand that will define what a day on this team actually looks like.