SCBIZ Daily Staff

LUGOFF – Retail giant Target is investing $73 million to expand its distribution center in Kershaw County. The expansion will occur over the next 20 months and could bring as many as 100 new jobs to the region, according to the Central SC Alliance.

Target’s current, 1.3 million-square-foot distribution center has been open since 2003 and employs more than 700. The expansion will bring the center to 1.8 million square feet, in preparation for the company to open 70-100 new stores a year throughout the nation over the next 15 years, Gene Wise, general manager of the Kershaw County distribution center, said in a statement.

The distribution center currently services 60 to 74 stores in South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida and Georgia, as well as stores on the edges of Tennessee and Virginia. The expansion will allow it to service more than 100 stores in the region and will make the Lugoff location the company’s largest distribution center.

“They could have done this expansion in 20 other buildings around the country, and they picked this one,” Wise said. “We couldn’t be happier.”

Target spokeswoman Jenn Glass said the company chose Lugoff because of its proximity to transportation and stores and because of work force availability. “The workers have really positive attitudes,” she said, adding that they work well with change.

The expansion will bring roughly $12 million in taxes to Kershaw County during the next 20 years, the majority of which will go to help fund schools.

The community and the corporation have embraced each other, said Mark Simmons, executive vice president of the Central SC Alliance. “I think that they’ve had a great experience with the community and also the work force there,” he said.

The company operates 1,648 Target stores in 47 states. It has 27 distribution centers in the U.S. There are 18 Target stores and one distribution center in South Carolina.