Dan D'Ambrosio

Free Press Staff Writer

When the news came Wednesday that the dilapidated Kmart in South Burlington will close in mid-January, the Free Press asked on its Facebook page what people would like to see in its place.

The overwhelming winner was: "Target."

"Please oh please can we get a Target??!!" implored Wendy Bombard.

The answer, Wendy, is "No."

Target spokeswoman Kirsten Halloran declined Thursday to say whether Target is aware of Kmart's closing in South Burlington, opening up what many Free Press readers believe is a prime spot for the Minneapolis-based chain. Neither did Halloran confirm nor deny Target will ever come to Vermont.

EARLIER: ​South Burlington Kmart to close

Target's flirtation with Williston a few years ago ended badly, after a plan to build a store just east of Shaw's supermarket near Taft Corners was presented to the town at an informal Williston Planning Commission meeting in January 2012. The 20 or so people in attendance at the meeting agreed that Williston did not need another big box store, and soon Target fell silent on the subject. Another Target spokeswoman, Stefanie Mohr, said in July 2013 there were no plans for a Target in Vermont.

"We have nothing else to share at this time," Halloran said in an email Thursday, attaching a list of stores Target will be opening over the next couple of years.

There will be 14 new Targets between now and July 2017, in Texas, California, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, and Illinois. The new stores will join 1,799 Targets already scattered across 49 of the 50 states, Vermont being the only state without the red bulls-eye.

Not everyone was longing for a Target when they got the news about Kmart on Wednesday. Michael X. Manners suggested devoting the land to an apple orchard. Douglas Seaburg said he wanted anything but "another brewery filled with people drinking out of Mason jars."

Kathleen Murphy Patten suggested, "Beds for the homeless that sleep on the ground behind it!!!"

Maegen Curley asked City Market to consider putting its new South End store there instead of on Pine Street.

"This space is much more equipped for traffic and more in need of some improvements," Curley explained.

Lori Barton Lambert struck a pessimistic note.

"We won't get anything good in there because the people of VT will fight whatever it is!" she lamented.

This story was first published on October 1, 2015. Contact Dan D'Ambrosio at 660-1841 or ddambrosio@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/DanDambrosioVT.