CEDAR FALLS - The Target store in Cedar Falls is scheduled to open "officially" Sunday.

But the doors to the store - one of 23 new units across the country that Minneapolis-based retailer Target Corp. is opening simultaneously - will actually open for the first time at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

A "grand opening," which will feature a litany of specials, is scheduled Sunday.

The store will be open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays.

"We have a quiet opening Wednesday morning, which is pretty typical," said David Fisher, the store's team leader and former manager of the SuperTarget in Waterloo.

The new 140,000-square-foot store, which will be the second in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls area, will serve as the anchor tenant of a new $40 million East Viking Plaza retail development, at the southeast corner of the Iowa Highway 58-Viking Road intersection.

The Cedar Falls store, which employs 135 workers, is not a SuperTarget, with a full-blown grocery store, as is the Waterloo store. But, Fisher said, the new store carries "expanded food offerings and a blend of everyday essentials and additional amenities," such as a pharmacy and a one-hour photo department.

"We have a lot of stuff one would need to do meals, but you don't have the full production areas (a SuperTarget has)," Fisher said.

The store also features a Starbucks and a Target Cafe.

"It's a little different than what you'd see in the Food Avenue that's in the Waterloo SuperTarget," Fisher said, noting that the Cedar Falls unit also has a Pizza Hut.

The store also boasts some unique aesthetics, Fisher said.

"If you have driven past the new store, you've seen all the glass, and that allows guests to see outside," he said. "It's kind of a neat feel, very open."

Workers - all positions have been filled, although both stores continue to accept applications - have been busy training, getting the store ready for opening since June 19, Fisher said.

Big crowds are anticipated for both the "quiet" and grand openings, Fisher noted.

"To be honest, I think we're going to be well received in the community," Fisher said. "There's a lot of people who are excited for the store to open. I'd expect we're going to see a lot of folks, and they're going to be very happy in what they see in the store."

Carson Landsgard, general manager of the company's nearby perishables distribution center, which opened in the spring, said the company is not worried about one store "cannibalizing" customers from the other.

"We've found there's a market that's able to support the additional store," Landsgard said. "It's a different store for this market, but I think both complement each other. We're offering more convenience, access and location by having this location in Cedar Falls."