Drive Up Service Coming To Highland Park Target

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — Target intends to roll out its drive-up service to its Highland Park location. The City Council Monday approved a change in zoning to allow for an illuminated beacon indicating a new pickup area in the parking lot of the retailer's 2099 Skokie Valley Road location. Starting in July, customers will be able to place orders online and receive a notification when their order is ready for pickup. Cell phone location data will let store staff know when customers have arrived in the designated area.

According to Target, orders are generally ready within an hour and take less than three minutes to fulfill once patrons are parked. The company said the program is especially popular among those shopping with small children and buying bulky items.

In March, the company said it planned to expand the Drive Up program to nearly 1,000 stores by the end of the year. Target is launching the program in "key stores," according to a letter from the company's engineering consultant to city staff.

A Target spokesperson said the company plans to have nearly 80 stores offering the service by early July, including a dozen in the Chicago area with drive-up stalls and beacons.

The beacon needed City Council approval due to Highland Park code that limits businesses to a single "ground sign" in areas zoned B3. Six parking spaces will be used to create a two new pickup lanes, but the site has a significant surplus of parking spaces above what code requires.

Under the parking lot pickup program, orders are held for two days at the store and customers are only charged for when they receive their merchandise. It was first introduced in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area in October 2017.

“We’re always looking for ways to make it easier for our guests to get what they need on their terms,” said Chief Information Officer Mike McNamara, in a release announcing the expansion. “Thanks to investments in our supply chain and digital operations, we’re able use our stores to fulfill guests’ digital orders with flexibility and speed.”

Target previously offered a similar service in the Chicago area through a test the start-up Curbside. According to a 2015 Chicago Tribune report, the service was offered in Chicago, Tinley Park, Oak Lawn, Lombard, Willowbrook and Warrenville. Techcrunch reported the Palo Alto-based company obtained a major investment from CVS and was sold to the Japanese online retailer Rakuten last week.