You’ve seen the Bullseye logo. You know the red carts and that specific popcorn smell near the entrance. But if you’ve ever wondered where are Target headquarters located, the answer isn't just a simple address you can punch into a GPS.
It’s a massive urban footprint.
Target doesn't live in a sprawling suburban "campus" like Apple or Google. They're city people. Specifically, they are Minneapolis people. While many massive retailers flee to the outskirts to save on taxes, Target has anchored itself in the heart of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, for decades. It’s a huge part of the city’s identity. Honestly, if you removed Target from Minneapolis, the skyline would look completely different, and the local economy would probably take a massive hit.
The Physical Reality of Where Target Headquarters Sits
The "main" building is known as Target Plaza. It’s located at 1000 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN 55403.
Don’t expect a quiet office park. This is right on the Nicollet Mall, which is a miles-long pedestrian and transit-only street. It’s busy. It’s loud. It’s very "Twin Cities." The headquarters actually consists of two main towers: Target Plaza North and Target Plaza South.
The South tower is the big one. It’s about 33 stories tall. If you’re walking nearby at night, you can’t miss it because the top of the building has this incredible LED display that changes colors and patterns. Sometimes it’s a giant red bullseye; other times it’s a seasonal light show.
But here is the thing: they don't all fit in those two towers.
Because Target is a Fortune 50 company with hundreds of billions in revenue, they need space. A lot of it. They occupy several other buildings throughout the downtown core. For a long time, they were one of the largest employers in the state, and while the "work from home" shift changed how many people are physically at their desks on a Tuesday morning, the footprint remains.
Why Minneapolis Matters to the Brand
Target isn't just "in" Minneapolis; they grew out of it. Most people don't realize Target started as a discount offshoot of the Dayton’s Department Store. George Dayton started his business right there in 1902.
The first-ever Target store didn't even open until 1962 in Roseville, which is just a short drive from the current headquarters. This isn't a company that moved to a tax haven or chased a trend. They stayed home. This deep-rooted history is why the headquarters feels so integrated into the city. They help fund the local parks. They sponsor the local stadiums. They are, essentially, the "home team" of the retail world in the Midwest.
It’s Not Just One Location (The Secret Annexes)
If you're asking where are Target headquarters because you're looking for a job or a meeting, you might not even go to the Nicollet Mall towers.
Target has a secondary massive campus called Northern Campus in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.
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- Brooklyn Park: This is a more traditional corporate campus. It's sprawling. It's suburban. It handles a lot of the heavy lifting for technology and data operations.
- Global Capability Centers: They have a massive "headquarters" presence in Bengaluru, India. This isn't just a call center. It’s a massive hub for data analytics, marketing, and supply chain strategy. Thousands of people work there.
- Sourcing Offices: Because they sell everything from patio furniture to swimsuits, they have offices in Hong Kong, China, and various parts of Southeast Asia to manage manufacturing.
Basically, "headquarters" is a state of mind and a global network, even if the heart beats in Minnesota.
The Design Culture Inside the Walls
Most corporate offices are beige and sad. Target's HQ is... not that.
Inside the Minneapolis towers, it feels more like a tech startup or a design agency. There are "hallways" that look like mock store aisles. They have "Planogram" labs where they literally build fake store sections to see how products look under specific lights before they ship the idea out to 1,900+ stores.
They also have a massive art collection. The Dayton family were huge patrons of the arts, and that DNA stuck. Walking through the halls, you'll see museum-quality pieces. It's meant to inspire the designers who create brands like Threshold or Good & Gather.
What Actually Happens at Target HQ?
It’s easy to think of "headquarters" as just a bunch of people in suits, but the work done at 1000 Nicollet Mall is incredibly varied.
- Merchandising: This is where the "buyers" live. They decide what you’re going to buy two years from now. If they think neon green is going to be big in 2027, you’ll see it in your local store because of a meeting that happened in Minneapolis today.
- Marketing: All those clever commercials? The visual branding? That’s all coordinated here.
- Supply Chain Logistics: This is the most underrated part. How does a bottle of Tide get to a store in rural Texas at the exact moment the shelf goes empty? There are engineers in Minneapolis staring at data screens making that happen.
- Private Brand Development: This is Target’s "secret sauce." They develop their own clothes and home goods. They have actual fashion designers and textile experts working in the HQ.
Misconceptions About the Location
A lot of people confuse Target with its competitors.
Walmart is famously in Bentonville, Arkansas. Amazon is in Seattle (and Arlington). Target is the "middle ground" both geographically and culturally. Being in the Midwest gives them a specific "Minnesota Nice" vibe that reflects in their store service, but being in a major city like Minneapolis gives them access to top-tier design and tech talent.
Another misconception? That you can just walk in and tour it.
You can't. It’s a high-security corporate environment. However, the ground floor of their headquarters is often open to the public in the form of a Target store. Yes, there is a Target store built into the base of the headquarters. It's a "city" format store, and it's where they often test out new tech, like fancy self-checkout interfaces or new grocery displays. If you want to "visit" the headquarters, that store is your best bet.
Navigating the Downtown Layout
If you're actually visiting, keep in mind the Minneapolis Skyway System.
Minneapolis is freezing in the winter. Like, dangerously cold. To solve this, the city built miles of enclosed glass walkways on the second floor of the buildings. Target's headquarters is a major hub in this system. You can park blocks away and walk to the headquarters without ever putting on a coat.
It’s a weird, literal "ant farm" of corporate workers moving between buildings. During the lunch hour, the skyways around Target Plaza are packed with people wearing red lanyards.
Actionable Steps for Researching or Visiting
If you are a business student, a potential employee, or just a curious fan of the brand, here is how you should handle the "Headquarters" situation:
- Don't just show up at 1000 Nicollet Mall expecting a lobby tour. It won't happen. The security is tight.
- Visit the "HQ Store" instead. The Target store on the ground floor of the Nicollet Mall location is one of the best-run stores in the chain. It's a great place to see the brand's latest experiments in real-time.
- Watch the lights. If you are in downtown Minneapolis at night, head to the corner of 10th and Nicollet. Look up at the South Tower. The light show is genuinely impressive and a staple of the city’s skyline.
- Check the Brooklyn Park campus if you're in tech. If your interest is more about the "engine room" (data, servers, IT), that's where the action is, though it's even less "tourist friendly" than the downtown towers.
- Look at their "Corporate Fact Sheet." Target updates their official headquarters stats annually on their corporate website (corporate.target.com). It’s the only place to get verified headcount numbers, as those change frequently.
The reality is that Target is more than just a retail store; it’s a civic institution in Minnesota. Its headquarters is a reflection of that—bold, designed-focused, and smack-dab in the middle of the urban action.