The Marathon Target, a la the smallest Target in the world, was a weird art installation in West Texas. And it was super charming.
Typically on this site, you’ll find recommendations for wacky trips to take and unusual sights to check out. But once in a while, we have to humbly bow our heads and pay homage to fun things that previously existed and are sadly no more. That’s what this post is about: The smallest Target in the world.
To be clear, this was not a target like you’d be trying to hit in a game of darts or archery. This was the smallest Target store. It sat outside of Marathon, Texas, about 50 miles from Marfa, Texas.
The “Target Marathon” popped up along Highway US 90 in 2016 under mysterious circumstances. And on December 10, 2020, the store was suddenly no more.

In between, we got more than four years of one of the oddest peculiarities of the desert. There was really no reason to visit this Target. You wouldn’t find Good & Gather snacks or aggressive sales on superhero T-shirts. And you certainly couldn’t pick up gear to help you train for a physical marathon.
Yet, there was something oddly charming about this piece of art. The signage was still there, with the Target logo standing out amid the hot sun. There was a Target shopping cart alongside the wall. And inside…well, there wasn’t much of anything worth checking out.
I visited the Target Marathon during the summer of 2020 when I took a road trip to West Texas and New Mexico. And since this was in the heart of Covid, the smallest Target in the world with absolutely nothing inside of it aside from graffiti and perhaps the occasional insect or critter sounded like a perfect stop.

Though the smallest Target store no longer exists, you can still check out the Marfa Prada store. If you find yourself in West Texas, it’s worth stopping by. And while you’re there, why not visit the Giant Marfa mural, too?
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