Boozy Target Shoppers: What Could Go Wrong?

A new Target location going up in a Chicago’s Streetville neighborhood has applied for two liquor licenses that would allow the retailer to serve customers alcohol, according to a USA Today report.

»Via USA Today

If approved, the store, which will open in October near Navy Pier, would be the first of the chain’s outlets to offer adult customers a choice of adult beverages to drink while they shop, the report stated.

Target’s in-store bar is part of a growing trend of traditionally “dry” businesses testing the waters of allowing their clientele to imbibe. A new Taco Bell location in Wicker Park is making plans to add alcohol to its menu, while a Burr Ridge Starbucks has begun serving beer and wine.

»RELATED: Chicago Could Get First Taco Bell to Serve Alcohol

Of course, those are restaurant franchises and not general merchandise retailers. Do shoppers really need to knock down a few cups of chardonnay while they’re looking for deals on deodorant, DVDs and duvet covers? And will Target cashiers need to be extra-vigilant when it comes to fake IDs, given that the chain is the, er, target retailer for college kids looking to decorate their dorm rooms?

Finally, the idea of any big-box retailer serving beer and wine to its customers can be hard to swallow when new examples crop up annually of how sober these shoppers behave in the store when they aren’t already a few Room Essentials microfiber bed sheets to the wind:

(VIDEO: Black Friday shoppers at a Buffalo, N.Y., Target store, Nov. 26, 2010)

YOUR TURN: Do you think Target should be allowed to serve beer and wine to shoppers? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section.