Target Corporation will open 10 new stores across the country on October 10, the Minneapolis-based retail giant announced Thursday.

The new stores-which will offer Target's expanded grocery section in addition to other retail departments-will create more than 2,400 jobs. The new locations will also feature the store-branded cafŽ and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks.

“These new Target store openings will help support local economies and make life easier for our guests by creating new jobs, spurring development, and providing the utmost in convenience and value,” John Griffith, executive vice president of property development for Target, said in a statement. “We are looking forward to deepening our relationship with guests in communities across the country.”

Each of the new stores will initiate a local grant program as a gesture to give back to the community in which it opens. Initiatives include contributions to the United Way, food donations, and products donated to local Goodwill chapters.

California will get new stores in the following cities: Sacramento, Simi Valley, Bakersfield, San Jose, and Azusa. The other new stores will open in Salt Lake City; Little Rock, Arkansas; Christiana, Delaware; Flushing, New York; and Braintree, Massachusetts.

Thursday's announcement followed on the heels of a report that Target will soon build smaller stores in 10 U.S. cities, including one somewhere in the Twin Cities. The retailer also announced that it will begin carrying Apple iPads beginning October 3.

Target-which operates a retail segment and a credit-card segment-now serves customers at 1,743 stores in 49 states nationwide and on its Web site. It is Minnesota's second-largest public company based on its revenue, which totaled $65.4 billion in its most recently completed fiscal year.