Target sets sights on Sask. store locations

A shopper walks the aisles of a Target store in Chicago on Thursday, July 5, 2012. (AP / M. Spencer Green)

Target will open two stores in Saskatoon next summer as part of the U.S. department store’s much anticipated entrance into the Canadian market.

Saskatoon stores are planned for the current Zellers locations at The Mall at Lawson Heights and the Centre at Circle & Eighth as part of the retailer’s plan to open in 125 locations from Newfoundland to B.C. A third Saskatchewan location will open at Regina’s Northgate Mall.

Target earlier purchased leasehold interests for Zellers stores across the country, and the new Target locations will be popping up in the renovated sites.

Each location will be closed for between six and nine months for renovations, with over $10 million spent at each location, according to a company news release. Each store is expected to employ 150 to 200 people.