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Target has opened a redesigned lower level at its Soho, Manhattan, store, creating themed shopping areas for home, wellness, toys, and food and beverage. The project by Something Special Studios uses New York neighborhood references and the building’s existing layout to make everyday categories more destination-oriented; Target says Soho remains a test-and-learn location.
Target has unveiled a redesigned lower level at its Soho store in Manhattan, adding New York-inspired shopping zones for home, wellness, toys, and food and beverage. Designed by Something Special Studios, the project extends the location’s curated retail approach and gives the retailer a place to test ideas that may inform other Target concepts.
The store sits at the corner of Broadway and Houston Street. Its new floor arranges everyday categories as themed destinations rather than presenting the level as one undifferentiated sales area. Design Milk’s report describes spaces including Bullseye Loft, where domestic vignettes display home products, and The Snack Bar, which draws on the look of New York corner stores and newsstands. Other named areas include Balance Mart for wellness and Explorers’ Lab for toys and entertainment.
New York references informed the design, but the studios did not reproduce neighborhood businesses or homes literally. Something Special Studios founder Michael Goldberg said the team took cues from bodegas and compact apartments, reworking those familiar settings into retail environments. The design uses brushed and orbital-finished aluminum, tinted mirrors, glossy lacquer, fabric awnings, integrated lighting, and wood. Target Red remains in the palette, joined by a custom shade called Cherry Stain Red.
The plan also responds to the existing cast-iron commercial building. Its columns, lightwell, and escalators shaped the layout; a row of columns now helps form the central avenue that organizes the level. Goldberg said wider paths and sightlines connect the different zones, while lighting, changes in materials, and architectural thresholds distinguish them without hard borders. The aim, as described by the designers, is to support both quick shopping and slower browsing.
A Test Floor for Target’s Retail Ideas
The redesign shows how Target is using a single urban store to explore a more curated, destination-based format for familiar product categories. That matters because the project is not only a local interior update: Target vice president of Marketing, Creative Curation Gigi Guerra described Soho as a test-and-learn platform where the company can experiment and evolve. The report does not say that the full design will be rolled out to other stores.
There is a stated link beyond the store, however. Guerra said Cherry Stain Red will be used across the chain for Target’s new Beauty Studio concept. The color’s planned use offers a specific example of an idea associated with Soho carrying into another retail initiative. Whether other features, such as the themed zones or floor layout, will also be adopted elsewhere has not been announced.
For shoppers, the practical question is whether the design can make browsing more engaging without slowing down routine trips. The designers say the open routes and clear sightlines are meant to let visitors find products quickly or take more time exploring. That is the project’s stated design intention; the source report provides no shopper research, sales figures, or other results showing how customers have responded.
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Soho’s Role as a Retail Lab
Target’s Soho location was conceived as a “living lab” for testing retail ideas, according to Guerra. The store had already offered a more curated, design-led experience since opening, and the first floor had been reimagined less than a year before the lower-level redesign was unveiled. The new work extends that approach to categories that are part of everyday shopping.
The project pairs Target’s familiar identity with choices tailored to this location. The store retains Target Red, while warmer neutrals, reflective finishes, wood, and the custom Cherry Stain Red give the lower level a distinct character. According to Goldberg, the palette is intended to connect the lower level with the floor above while making the new area feel more metropolitan.
The redesign was created by Something Special Studios, a New York- and Los Angeles-based firm. The source report, published by Design Milk, credits Sean Davidson for the project photography and identifies the existing building’s structural features as constraints the design had to accommodate.
““We’re rethinking each of these categories as destinations.””
— Gigi Guerra, Target vice president of Marketing, Creative Curation
Results and Rollout Remain Unreported
The source report does not provide an exact unveiling date, customer traffic or sales data, or evidence measuring whether the redesign has changed shopping behavior. It also does not say whether customers have responded positively or whether the themed areas have met Target’s business goals.
Target has identified Cherry Stain Red as a feature that will extend to its Beauty Studio concept, but has not, in the supplied material, announced a broader rollout of the Soho floor plan or its named destinations. The scale, timing, and locations for any future use of the other design ideas remain unclear.
Target’s Next Tests Beyond Soho
The next stated step beyond the Soho store is the planned use of Cherry Stain Red in Target’s Beauty Studio concept. Target has not supplied a timeline or named locations for that use in the source report. The Soho lower level will continue to function as a testing ground, according to Guerra, but no specific future experiment or evaluation date was given.
Readers and shoppers can watch for Target announcements about the Beauty Studio and any further changes at the Manhattan location. Until the company shares results or rollout plans, it remains unclear which elements of the lower-level redesign, if any, will appear in other stores.
Key Questions
What changed at Target’s Soho store?
Target unveiled a redesigned lower level with themed areas for home, wellness, toys, and food and beverage. The work was designed by Something Special Studios.
What are some of the new shopping areas?
The report names Bullseye Loft for home products, The Snack Bar for food and beverage, Balance Mart for wellness, and Explorers’ Lab for toys and entertainment.
Will the redesign appear in other Target stores?
Target has not announced a wider rollout of the lower-level design. Guerra said the Soho store is a test-and-learn platform; the report specifically says Cherry Stain Red will be used across the chain for the Beauty Studio concept.
How does the redesign use the existing building?
The layout works around the building’s columns, lightwell, and escalators. A row of columns helps organize a central avenue, with wider paths and sightlines connecting the shopping zones.
Source: design-milk.com
