Getting the right products to the right place at the right time? It’s complicated. It starts with receiving products from thousands of vendors around the country and world that we then move to over 2,000 stores and millions of guest doorsteps. To keep all this flowing smoothly – and get products to our guests efficiently and reliably for an elevated experience – flexibility in our supply chain is key. This includes having enough capacity earlier on in the process to store inventory where it’s needed.
That’s why Target just opened its first Receive Center in Houston. It’s a new type of facility in our supply chain network that intakes directly from our global vendors and holds the product until it’s needed elsewhere, replenishing inventory in response to store and guest demand.
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Reliability for guests
Our new Receive Center will service six regional distribution centers and one flow center, helping replenish the inventory that then goes to stores. Positioned between our Import Warehouses in Georgia and Washington, it complements those coastal facilities by adding regionally based capacity — helping us get products to the right place faster and at a lower cost thanks to shorter distances traveled. By adding capacity at an earlier stage in our supply chain, we can wait to distribute inventory until the moment it's needed, ultimately preventing our distribution centers (and store backrooms) from getting overcrowded.
Expanded capacity like this is particularly beneficial for items that are seasonal, bulky, challenging to forecast, or have long lead times. And it also gives us the ability to secure popular items earlier on from vendors — like trending toys for the holiday season — ensuring that we reliably offer the most relevant assortment when the time comes.
Technology in action
The Houston Receive Center is not only a new way we’re effectively moving and allocating product — it also demonstrates a new way we’re accelerating our use of technology to design facilities.
Target supply chain teams designed the 1.2 million-square-foot facility using immersive 3D visualization and simulation technology at our XR Experience Center in Minneapolis. We’ve leveraged this technology over the past several years to design and remodel properties, but this was the first time it was used end to end in the design process to create an informative and influential 3D digital model of the facility before construction began. This allowed teams to pressure test layouts, processes, and operational flow in a virtual environment to ensure maximum confidence in what was ultimately built on the ground.
The result? A faster and smoother development process and a Receive Center team ready to serve our network from day one. Learn more about this technology process and our teams’ collaboration.
Growing with Houston
The opening of our $265 million Receive Center brings 185 new jobs to Houston, adding to the more than 6,300 Target team members who already work at our 40 stores and sortation center in the area. Our investment continues with several new stores and remodels throughout the greater Houston area this year.
Add in the over $6.2 million in product and cash donations Target gave in the greater Houston area in 2025 — and the over 18,500 hours volunteered by local team members — and it’s the latest chapter in our support for the region.
