On Aug. 12, the first-ever Target in Hunterdon County opened its doors to customers for its soft opening.

Located at 325 US-202, Flemington, NJ 08822, the new store has been preparing for months to showcase its all-new interior to the public. The 75,525-square-foot store, previously owned by Burlington, hosts all types of Target merchandise in addition to a Starbucks and CVS Pharmacy. The store is described as “small-format,” making it more compact than other Targets in the area, such as Phillipsburg or Bridgewater.

The store hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 5 p.m. with its employees, corporate members and shoppers in attendance. The store’s official grand opening is set for Aug. 17.

Kevin Weick, the store director of Target Flemington, has been working hard to get the business ready for its opening.

“I’ve been apart of Target for 10 years, and we’re super excited to be the first Target in Hunterdon County,” Weick said. “We have 135 team members hired on staff. We’ve been working hard these past couple of months ready to open today, and we can’t wait to join the community.”

Included in those 135 team members are Delaware Valley’s own students, including senior Vinnie Felice. As a Target Team Member, Felice has been part of the effort to prepare the store for operation.

“Opening day has been exciting — a lot of it has been overwhelming,” Felice said. “There’s a lot of people coming in as we’re getting the store ready. Leading up to this [soft opening], we’ve done a lot of stocking and making sure that things are in the correct places and look presentable for people to come into the store.”

Hunterdon Central Regional High School’s Marching Band made an appearance to hype-up the ribbon cutting ceremony and welcome guests into the new store. William Magalio, the band’s director, was excited by the opportunity when contacted by Target staff.

“The manager of Target reached out to me at the very end of June… and said, ‘We’re having a grand opening celebration in August and we’d love your band to be part of it,'” Magalio said. “Which is great, we always love to come when we’re called by the community. …This is a once in a lifetime thing to take part in an event like this, so we were happy to do so, and they [the students] were excited to be part of it.”

Ben Thompson, a junior at Hunterdon Central and section leader for the low brass, shared his director’s excitement and noted that it was the first time they’d done something like it.

“It was a bit interesting, really a different type of place to perform…a different experience than we’ve had,” Thompson said.

Lines wrapped around the plaza of customers excited to see the highly anticipated store. With fully stocked shelves, eager customers were in search for a variety of items. A 10-year resident of Flemington, DJ Nork waited in the summer heat for one reason.

“I was interested to see what kind of sports cards they had for sale today,” Nork said.

The soft opening included pop-ups from a variety of businesses: Philly Pretzel Factory, Duck Donuts, Starbucks, Red Bull, Target merchandise and more. In addition to pop-ups, guests were invited to meet Bullseye, Target’s mascot, around the store.

Bob King, the mayor of Raritan Township, was in attendance at the ribbon cutting ceremony. He emphasized the positive impact he believes this Target will have on the community.

“I have had the honor of doing a few grand openings; this has set the bar,” King said. “When we look at businesses like this, I’m a firm believer in having a good balance between rural area to live and having shops like this that are close and convenient to travel to. That’s what makes our community a great place to live, a great place to work and we’re super excited.”