COVINGTON, Ga – For years, perhaps one of the most popular requests for new businesses by Covingtonians was a Target. Now, they will get their wish.

It was announced on Monday that a Target is slated to be built in the Covington Town Center. This comes after it was rumored in June that the department store giant was interested in coming to Covington.

At 128,500 square feet, the location is anticipated to be one of the largest Targets built in the metro Atlanta area in several years.

The project will be developed by Fuqua Development, an Atlanta-based group. The proposed location within Covington Town Center in the empty lot adjacent to the Publix.

Behind the scenes, securing a Target for Newton County has reportedly been in the pipeline for some time.

“It is a great thing, we’re super excited,” said Serra Hall, executive director of the IDA, at Monday’s Covington City Council meeting. “This is something that we have worked on for a long time, and through partnership, is to increase our commercial development and retail development.”

Hall told The Covington News that the Target will likely open sometime in 2027. Once it opens, it will provide more job opportunities to the residents of Newton County.

“We know that this will be a great establishment and also future jobs that come in,” Hall said. “This is certainly a target.”

The IDA’s Facebook post called the announcement a “major milestone in closing in on retail leakage in Newton County.” Retail leakage is when the residents of a particular community leave that community to purchase goods and services. When the demand for specific retail—such as Target—is not met in a community, that community’s residents will leave the area to spend their money.

Now, by bringing a Target to Covington, the IDA is making an effort to retain the local market. Newton County residents will no longer have to go to Conyers to shop at Target, but can reinvest in their own community.

Hall says the IDA has worked for years to plug these leaks by steadily bringing new businesses into Newton County.

“We really saw that we were leaking out, at that point, billions of dollars. I think it was $2.9 billion annually of potential dollars,” Hall said. “...The number now—we’re well under $1 billion, which is remarkable, thinking that we were almost three times that amount just a few short, maybe seven, eight years ago.”

Much of that demand has been fulfilled by the Covington Town Center. Spearheaded by Foxfield Company and its president, Harry Kitchen, the large mixed-use development has become the home to several new businesses like Freddy’s, Jim & Nick’s BBQ, Whataburger and Huey Magoos. The area has also become a site for reinvestment, with additional locations by Chick-fil-A and Amici.

In addition to the planned Target, Town Center will also be adding a Mattress Warehouse and Fifth Third Bank in the coming months and years ahead.

As the IDA continues to work with local governments to bolster the economy, Hall said that they take into consideration all kinds of factors to bring in the best opportunities.

“The Covington Town Center developments… It's been a long time coming,” Hall said. “When you look at retail and commercial, it’s certainly a marathon, it's not a sprint.”