Despite Target officials statement that the Austin Target will close, community members have not given up.

“What we’re hoping to do is just to not let that lose momentum,” Danielle Nesvold said.

She and Dave Hagen, who was recently elected to the Austin City Council Ward 2 seat, will hold a town meeting on Thursday, Nov. 13, to get information to the community about efforts to save Target. The meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m., at the 1910 restaurant, or the old Terp Ballroom.

The Minneapolis-based chain announced Tuesday that it will close Austin and 10 other stores.

The decision incited a wave of community support to keep Target in Austin: Residents have taken to Facebook, petitions and company call-lines to try to entice the company to change its mind.

Nesvold and Hagen hope to convince Target to stay one more year, giving the community a chance to show their support.

“I would like Target to give us a year and give us a chance, and the reason I say that is we would like to do things to help improve their situation out there,” Hagen said.

Despite the community’s response to the news, Target has stood by it’s decision to close the store.

“We appreciate the interest, but the decision has been made and the store will close effective Feb. 1,” Target spokesman Evan Lapiska wrote in an email to the Herald on Nov. 6.

Lapiska previously said the company chose to close the stores based on several years of declining performance.

Hagen has not been deterred by Target’s response.

“I’ve been told no too many times in my life, so you have got to press forward, do what you have got to do,” Hagen said. “The only way you can stop it is by trying, and I’m not willing to stop yet.”

The meeting will highlight ways to try to save the Target and support them, such as getting more people to sign up for Target credit cards. Hagen hopes to show officials that the traffic patterns will change with the new Hy-Vee store being built in the Oak Park Mall. Laura Helle, Vision 2020 Director, will also present some information.

“Target is very important to this community,” Hagen said. “And this is also kind of a wake-up call to Austin to help support it’s local businesses.”

Nesvold started the Facebook page to save the Austin Target, which asks people to call Target and express their concern over the loss of the store. The page had about 1.7K members as of Friday afternoon.

“There was some other community members that were interested in, I guess, taking advantage of speaking to the community,” Nesvold said.

Nesvold had hoped Target managers and CEOs would look at the bigger picture, and think about where their business could be in the future, with Vision 2020’s plan to make Austin a destination for more people to work, live and shop. She questioned whether anyone had seen the letters or the support behind saving Target, and she hoped they would think about their decision once they saw the petition.

Yet Nesvold and Hagen hope the meeting accomplishes more than just showing Target they hope to keep the business.

“I just hope people will come out and be involved with the community, it’s a great opportunity for people to join and gather and keep making Austin a better place,” Nesvold said.

Hagen added, “We would like to ask Target to give us a year and give us a chance, and we also want to get the word out, support your local businesses. Those are the two main emphasis.”