"The bollards painted red would be considered a sign; however, painted gray would not be considered a sign." Southampton Town building inspector Marjorie Reilly put that ruling in an email after a March Planning Board meeting, as reported by The East Hampton Star. It settled one of the odder questions in the long review of the new Target at Bridgehampton Commons.
The store opened its registers at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, and held its public grand opening on Sunday, October 11. Anyone who has walked in has already seen the result of those talks. The bullseye sits in white on gray, the sign is not lit from inside, and the concrete spheres by the entrance are gray. Discount chains have occupied this building, with gaps between tenants, since 1972. This round, Southampton Town's decisions were mostly about how the store would look, and most of what residents gain is a set of services that don't require a trip to the Commons at all.
A store negotiated down to gray
The Star's November 6, 2025 account says Target had signed its lease "a year ago" and sent an initial site plan to the Southampton Town Planning Board in December. After months of negotiation, with amendments worked out at a March meeting, the town issued a building permit on July 30 covering interior and exterior work.
The sign rules were settled early. Under the Commons' signage standards, the store got white letters and a logo on a gray background, with no internal lighting. The bollards took longer. One board member called them "somewhere between an architectural element and a safety issue and signage," and argued that they work as a marketing element because they represent the brand. Ken McQuade, a Target architect, offered to repaint them. When a white option came up, he answered, "Respectfully, white shows every scuff and every mark," and suggested a neutral gray to match the sign.
Parking got similar attention. Target's plan added 10 drive-up stalls for order pickup, which cost the lot six regular spaces. The Star reported that board chairwoman Jacqui Lofaro was worried about the precedent it could set for future tenants. Newsday reported that the Zoning Board granted a June 2025 variance allowing 1,247 spaces instead of the required 1,253, to make room for cart corrals.
At the opening, store director Adriana Fitzpatrick told 27east that the exterior and interior were designed to "align with the town's design guidelines to reflect its coastal theme." The Star went further and wrote in its October 8 coverage that the town insisted on gray for the exterior and the signage. Its 2025 reporting summed up the outcome as "an uncharacteristically de-Targeted Target."
The same building, the same argument, since 1972
None of this is new for the building. It went up in 1972 as part of the Plaza East Shopping Center. When plans were announced, a group of residents from Bridgehampton and nearby towns printed a petition in The Star under the name "Citizens Against the Shopping Center." The writer Peter Matthiessen and the artist Saul Steinberg were among them. The petition warned of traffic congestion and unfair competition for established merchants, and said the center would "irreparably alter the visual quality of our countryside."
The center was built anyway, and the big space has changed hands ever since. The table below draws on the Star's history, plus 27east for Kmart's closing date and Patch for Target's opening:
Tenant | Period in the building | How it ended |
|---|---|---|
W.T. Grant | Opened October 1972 | Chain went bankrupt in 1976 |
Woolco | Opened a few months after Grant closed | Closed in 1983 with every other U.S. Woolco |
Caldor | Moved in after Woolco | Chain went bankrupt; store closed May 1999 |
Kmart | Later in 1999 to October 2024 | Last full-size Kmart in the mainland U.S. |
Target | Opened October 6, 2026 | Current tenant |
The 1983 change brought the biggest fight. Kimco, which had bought Plaza East by then, asked the town to expand the center onto the neighboring site of a former drive-in movie theater. That sparked more protests and legal action, and it eventually produced the Bridgehampton Commons that stands today.
Seen against that history, the 2025 hearings were mild. Nobody seriously challenged whether a national discount chain belonged in the building. The debate was over the shade of gray on the bollards and six parking spaces. The town has stopped fighting the store's presence and now concentrates on its appearance.
What the smaller format puts inside
At just under 90,000 square feet, the Star reported, the Bridgehampton store is about 50 percent smaller than other Targets opening around the country this fall. Fitzpatrick told the paper it sits "right in between what would be called a small-format store and a regular G.M. sized store," and said the layout still fits every department plus "a fairly decent-sized grocery section."
Former Kmart shoppers will know the floor plan. The Star noted that it follows Kmart's, with groceries at the back, including produce, frozen foods and dry goods. There is a Starbucks inside. 27east added that the store sells adult beverages and described its approach as "food-forward."
The in-store CVS Pharmacy is not open yet. Patch reported on October 9 that it is scheduled to open in November.
The store is also new to the rest of the Commons. Kimco's current tenant roster puts it alongside King Kullen, Walgreens, T.J. Maxx, Marshalls/HomeGoods, Staples, Barnes & Noble, Petco, Gap, Athleta, Ulta, Panera Bread and Dunkin'. In 2024, Long Island Business News reported that Target would become the center's co-anchor alongside the 61,892-square-foot King Kullen supermarket. That puts groceries for sale in two stores a short walk apart.
The change that skips the parking lot
For about two years the space sat empty or under construction. At the employee preview, Fitzpatrick told the crowd, as quoted in The East Hampton Star's opening coverage, "just a few four months ago this was a construction site." During that period the closest Target was in Riverhead. Newsday put it at 23.3 miles from the former Kmart. A shorter drive is the obvious benefit.
The bigger shift is that many trips can now be skipped. The store offers drive-up and in-store order pickup, along with same-day delivery through Target 360. The Star reported that same-day delivery is a first for South Fork customers. This also explains the 10 drive-up stalls the Planning Board fought over. Those spaces exist for people who never go inside, and delivery means a household may not need to enter the lot at all.
The town worked hard to keep the building from advertising itself to Montauk Highway, and the service most likely to change a household's week doesn't depend on the building's appearance at all.
A first shopper from down the road
The opening also had a local connection. According to the Star, the Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreational Center was chosen as the ceremonial first shopper and received a $500 gift card. Debra McEneaney of the center's development team attended the preview. Fitzpatrick told 27east that the store has hired more than 130 team members, will also hire for seasonal positions, and that "many of our team members live in our community." The center's fifth annual Breast Cancer Awareness Expo runs Saturday, October 17, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 551 Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike, according to 27east.
At the preview, the Star reported, a single checkout line stretched halfway to the back of the store just before 5 p.m. By about 5:04 it was gone, the first sales had gone through, and the store was open to everyone.
If you'd like to talk through what this corner of Montauk Highway means for your own property, Michael Petersohn is glad to share the local picture. Request a Personal Market Consultation.
