GUELPH —Guelph's Target may be a quickly fading memory but the Stone Road Mall site will soon be a place for shoppers looking for bargains again.

"It will be a Walmart store," said Alex Roberton, director of corporate affairs for Walmart Canada.

"We haven't finalized timelines and plans yet and that's one of the things that we're doing now is just getting a handle on what needs to be done, which is probably why you've seen the lights on."

Walmart Canada announced in early May that it planned to spend about $165 million to purchase 13 former Target Canada locations across the country, including Guelph, and spend $185 million more on renovations.

A distribution centre in Cornwall was also included in the deal.

Roberton said there's no exact timeline yet for when the new store would open or what exact renovations will be done.

As for the Target employees who lost their jobs when that store shuttered its doors, Roberton said they're welcome to apply.

"We're always looking for associates for sure and we'd encourage anyone, including former Target employees, to reach out to us if they're interested in working at that store," he said.

He said he doesn't know how many people the company will end up hiring in Guelph. It depends on "exactly how we're going to merchandise the store."

The Guelph Target store, one of the first in the country, closed in early April after just over two years of operation.

The bargain retailer closed all its Canadian stores this spring citing a lack of profits amid costumer complaints about prices and inventory.

At the Guelph store's peak about 170 people worked there.

Walmart opened its first store in Guelph on Woodlawn Road near the Ignatius Jesuit Centre in 2006 after an 11 year fight to keep it out of the Royal City.

Guelph Ward 2 Coun. James Gordon, who was involved in that fight, said it's a shame the former Target will not be used by the community or by a retailer with more of a local connection.

"As we become more aware as a community of the value of buying local, shopping local and supporting local businesses, we are seeing that value even more so then when we were objecting to that first Walmart," he said.

He doubts that the arrival of the second store will be met with the same reaction as the first, as the building is already there and "right in the middle of sprawl."

But he said he hopes people will be "be aware of what the cost of the low cost is."

Such big box stores often have very big environmental footprints, and can pull business away from smaller local stores, he said.

"Now it's kind of a double whammy on each end of the city," said Gordon.

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