Target at Westwood Village will be expanding the reach of its P-fresh "Prototype Fresh" grocery concept beginning in March. The existing store won't expand itself. Instead it will have extra space devoted to fresh produce, fresh meats (like ground beef and chicken) and baked goods.

The chain has a range of store sizes and the Westwood Village location is smaller than a "SuperTarget" which incorporates a full grocery store but with more groceries than a traditional Target store. The P-fresh concept is meant to serve as a fill-in trip between larger trips to the grocery store. There will not be a full deli or pharmacy.

Store Manager Mary Liedo said,"Starting at the beginning of March we will launch what should be about a 3 month re-model to make us into a P-Fresh Target. (…) We are going to a lot of shifting around of our current departments. We're going to lose a little bit of our apparel. We will keep all the departments but they will each get a little bit smaller (…) The grocery department will run on the entire far wall of our store, cosmetics will move closer to the check lanes, our electronics department will move to the back of the store. I'm not totally familiar with it yet. I haven't seen the blueprints."

Liedo said there are teams in the store now getting ready for the re-model.

"The process starts in our back room and will be there for the first month," Liedo explained," then beginning in April the guests will start to see the construction on the floor and the fitting room is going to be relocated so we will get a brand new fitting room. Then through May and in the beginning of June we will be able to reopen with a brand new sparkling store. We're super excited."

One key difference between buying produce as you do from a grocery store, by the pound, "Everything will have a bar code so our cashiers don't have to worry about what the price per pound is. You'll be able to buy, like a bag of apples at a set price. The bananas will be sold individually so you can pick out how many you need."

The P-Fresh concept has been rolling out across the nation, beginning in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2008. Then in 2009 they expanded the idea into Philadelphia with 30 stores getting the update. "We got such great guest response on it, " said Target spokesperson, Tammy Robertson, "and in 2010 we remodeled 350 stores across the country. We truly did it just based on our guest response and their feedback. So, now our guests can go shopping for a new dress, pick up a movie, and pick up dinner for that evening as well."

Northgate was the first in this area to introduce the concept and Tacoma is under construction. The Issaquah store will be starting their renovations shortly too. Eventually all conventionally sized Target stores in the area will incorporate the P-Fresh idea. "The northwest is at the end of the transition," said Liedo.

Liedo, who hails from Chicago, is familiar with the idea. "When I left Chicago they were switching to P-Fresh through the summer."