After arson caused millions of dollars in damage at the Dover Target on July 10, the store is reopening Friday, Sept. 9, at 8 a.m., a Target corporate spokesperson confirmed.
On Thursday, employees were busy with the finishing touches, cleaning and stocking shelves at the store at 148 John Hunn Brown Road, east of Route 13 and Bay Road.
“It’s very exciting,” said the store manager, Angie, who declined to give her last name. “The biggest challenge has been not being open for our customers and the community. A lot of people have been stopping by, asking when we were going to reopen. They said they miss us and we’ve missed them.”
No layoffs occurred among the staff of about 150 workers while the store was closed, the manager said.
“We were able to bring in our team to help clean up and start bringing in freight,” she said. “We are hiring, though – seasonal hiring to prepare for the holidays.”
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The main parts of the reopening process were taking everything out of the store, making minor repairs, cleaning and then restocking.
“No major reconstruction was needed,” the manager said. “We changed a couple things in the apparel section, but I want to leave that as a surprise for our customers when we open. We also had to get set up for Halloween.”
Police said fire set as a diversion. Suspect charged.
After a joint investigation by Dover police and the Dover Fire Marshal’s Office using the store’s surveillance video footage and physical evidence from the store, Desmond M. Smith, 26, of Dover was arrested in the case on July 18.
Smith started the fire in the linen section in the center of the store “as a diversion to steal a cart full of merchandise from the business” on July 10 at about 9 p.m., police said.
The store was evacuated and no injuries were reported, but between $3 million and $4 million in merchandise was damaged by smoke or fire, police said.
Smith was charged with first-degree arson, 19 counts of first-degree reckless endangering, criminal mischief of $5,000 or greater, shoplifting under $1,500 and wearing a disguise during the commission of a felony. After arraignment, he was committed to the Sussex Correctional Institution on a $137,000 bond while awaiting another court appearance.
Reporter Shannon Marvel McNaught contributed to this story. Reach reporter Ben Mace at rmace@gannett.com.
