Despite the gloom around traditional retail, Target is continuing its expansion in New York City.

The retail giant is opening three new small-format stores in New York City, with the company announcing new locations for Queens, Staten Island and Manhattan's Upper East Side.

The new stores are part of the retailer’s ongoing strategy shift to start opening smaller stores in urban centers, rather than the large-scale concepts in the suburbs Target has been known for.

Since announcing the plan last year, the company said it is on track to open 130 of these types of stores across the United States by the end of next year.

On the Upper East Side, Target is opening a 22K SF store at the base of TF Cornerstone’s 1201 Third Ave. The store will open in 2019.

For its first small-format store on Staten Island, Target has signed a lease with Kimco Realty for a 46K SF store on Forest Ave. The store there will also open in 2019. In Astoria, the store on 31st Street will span 47K SF and is set to open in 2022. Target signed a deal with A&H Acquisitions for the location.

New Targets are already slated for places like the Lower East Side, the East Village, Hell's Kitchen and Herald Square.

All of the new stores will feature Order Pickup, according to the company's release, which allows shoppers to buy online and collect their items at the shop.

Brick-and-mortar retail has been going through a period of change in the face of a consumer swing to online shopping. Last month, for example, Toys R Us announced plans to shut down all its retail operations in the United States.

Earlier this year, there was speculation Amazon would look to buy Target, following Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods last summer.