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Attention Shoppers! Target to open store at Caesar’s Bay

March 18, 2019 Paula Katinas

ebrooklyn media/file photo by Helen Klein

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It’s the dawn of a new era at the legendary Caesar’s Bay Shopping Center.

The famous shopping Mecca on the Gravesend waterfront is getting a Target department store next year. News of the Target plans came on the heels of another major development: the arrival of an Olive Garden restaurant in April.

The New York Post was the first to report of the plans by the owners of Target to set up shop at Caesar’s Bay at 8973 Bay Parkway.

A spokesperson for Target confirmed the big news to the Brooklyn Reporter.

“I can confirm Target plans to open a store in Brooklyn’s Caesar’s Bay Shopping Center in 2020. We’re excited to offer local guests an easy and convenient shopping experience and will have more details to share about the store as we get closer to opening,” the spokesperson said.

Target is leasing a 90,000 square-foot space formerly occupied by Toys R US. The corporation that owns Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy protection in 2017.

Caesar’s Bay Shopping Center, where generations of southwest Brooklyn residents have done their shopping for more than 50 years, sits on 14 acres on the waterfront in Gravesend. It is located on the corner of Bay Parkway and Shore Parkway, next to the Shore Parkway Promenade.

The expansive property is owned by Gazit Horizons, the North American subsidiary of Gazit Globe, a company based in Tel Aviv.

Jeff Mooallem, president and CEO of Gazit Horizons, told the New York Post that Caesar’s Bay is a good site for Target. “Target will have a big store and with free parking, it will be a suburban-feeling store,” the Post quoted him as saying.

Target also has other locations in Brooklyn, including one at 6401 18th Ave. in Bensonhurst and one at 1715 East 13th St. in Midwood.

Councilmember Justin Brannan, who helped secure the new Target, told the Brooklyn Reporter that the new addition to Caesar’s Bay will create over 100 jobs that will all be local hires.

Caesar’s Bay is currently home to Kohl’s Department Store, as well as Best Buy, Modell’s and a Five Guys fast-food restaurant.

Olive Garden, which has 892 restaurants worldwide, is set to open its doors at 1684 Shore Parkway in April.

Steven Flory-Alexander, who will serve as general manager of the grand new eatery, told the Brooklyn Reporter in a recent interview that Olive Garden selected the area because the company was seeking a location that offered long-term growth opportunities.

The Gravesend site will be the second Olive Garden to open in Brooklyn. The first is located at the Gateway Center in East New York.

Additional reporting by John Alexander