Target stores will close by 9 p.m. daily amid coronavirus; 1st hour reserved for seniors

MILWAUKEE -- Target Chairman and CEO Brian Cornell announced Tuesday, March 17 plans to close all stores by 9 p.m. daily, and reserve the first hour of each shopping day for seniors.

Cornell shared a message Tuesday on the company's website: 

Every day, for weeks now, you’ve turned to Target to stock up on supplies as you cope with the impact of the coronavirus. As we all continue to adapt to the country’s fast-changing needs, we want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to keep our stores open and support our team.

Today, we’re announcing a couple of changes that will go into effect tomorrow and last until further notice.

We’ll reduce hours and close all stores by 9 p.mdaily. This will help us as we replenish and deeply clean our stores for our guests. And it builds on measures we shared earlier this month, including enhanced cleaning and more staffing for in-demand services that support social distancing, like Order Pickup and Drive Up.

We’ll also reserve the first hour of shopping each Wednesday to support vulnerable guests, including the elderly and those with underlying health concerns.

In addition to these changes, we’re fast-tracking the flow of products that are in highest demand, including food, medicine and other essentials. We’ll continue to maintain limitations on in-demand items and respectfully ask all guests to consider their immediate needs and purchase accordingly so more families can find the products they need.

Taking care of our team


During this challenging time, I can assure you that the Target team is working hard to be there for you and your families – and we’re doubling down on everything we can to support them.

We recently announced changes to our back-up care benefit, so in the face of school and other care-facility closures, back-up care will be available to all, including frontline team members who are doing so much right now. This comes on top of temporarily waiving our absenteeism policy and covering quarantine and confirmed illness pay. We’ll also continue to offer benefits like paid family leave and free counseling services for the range of challenges our team might be facing.

So much of what we’ve seen over the last few weeks has been heroic, from our dedicated teams working in our stores and supply chain, to the way you and your families have banded together.

As I’ve said from the outset, a commitment to help all families is at the heart of Target’s purpose. Our goal is to be here for you and keep navigating through this uncertainty together – and we will do everything in our power to live up to that promise.


CLICK HERE for more on changes made at stores worldwide amid coronavirus concerns.