After 21 years of operation, the doors of the Target store on Prater Way will be locked to the public tonight at 5 p.m. as employees prepare to open the new Target Super Store off Sparks Boulevard Wednesday morning.

Employees will remain in the Prater Way store until Oct. 20 to clean up the final remains of inventory, dust and debris. Target’s lease on the 105,000-square-foot property has reached its end and the building’s future is still unknown, store manager Sondra Martin said. Property owners were unavailable for comment as of press time.

Following a soft opening on Wednesday, the new Target will hold its official grand opening on Oct. 12 with very little fanfare. According to Martin, who will also manage the new store, the grand opening will be business as usual.

“We don’t want to be a distraction,” Martin said. “We just want you to be able to come in and enjoy the shopping experience.”

All current employees will be transferring to the new Lincoln Way location along with several additional employees. Severance packages were offered to employees who didn’t want to work at the new location, but, according to Martin, no one took advantage of that offer.

After the old store’s close tonight, inventory will be shipped to the Target warehouse where it will then be sent to other stores across the United States.

According to store officials, the new 144,000-square-foot store holds an almost completely new inventory, currently geared toward autumn consumers.

In addition to the added inventory and floor space, the new Target will include a pharmacy, Starbucks coffee shop with a seating area, Pizza Hut and 30 isles of grocery shopping. According to Martin, the grocery section contains about 75 percent of what the average grocery store would carry.

“Now people don’t have to go to the Reno Target to look for that one special item,” Martin said. “I think this is finally going to make Sparks a retail destination.”

Before it became Target 21 years ago, the Prater Way location was a GemCo. The discount membership department store was sold to Target in 1986 when GemCo went defunct.