While fans of Method soap and Paul Frank bedding patiently await the arrival of San Francisco's first Target store, still slated to open in the Metreon sometime in the fall of 2012, the San Francisco Planning Commission has approved a permit to build another location of the discount retailer in the largely deserted City Center shopping complex at Geary and Masonic. The city's second Target store, currently planning for a Grand Opening in Spring 2013, will be moving in to the former home of Mervyn's after a bit of a facelift.

Judging by the renderings above, the 120,000 square foot City Center Target will enjoy Mervyn's open-air (and downright suburban) parking lot on Masonic Ave. Appropriately enough, the new tenant will also be cozying up to other strip mall favorites in the complex: There's currently a Best Buy on the second level and an Office Depot around the back. (Not to mention a Trader Joe's about a block away.)

The Planning Commission's approval came during a hearing last Thursday on the state of retail franchise approvals in the city. In Target's case, the chain retailer didn't see much opposition. The Chronicle's John King reports that the signage may be the only sticking point. Target, it seems, wants more and bigger signs than the Planning Commission is likely to allow thanks to city regulations about signs in residential areas.

[SocketSite]
[SFExaminer]
[Chronicle]