Target stores in Chicago have applied for liquor licenses that will allow the retail giant to start selling and serving alcohol in a new local outlet.

According to Fortune, a company spokesperson confirms that top store execs are looking to follow in the footsteps of such upscale grocers as Whole Foods Market and Wegmans in offering such services to their customers.

Company spokesperson Angie Thompson adds that the Minneapolis-based retailer applied for the license in August, and the first store it has such plans for is one near the city's Navy Pier. If approved, it would be the first time Target serves alcohol.

"We sell liquor at a number of stores, but we currently don't have any Target stores that serve liquor on site," Thompson added, while declining to divulge further details.

In choosing the 24,000-square-foot Navy Pier area store, Target is keeping with its growing strategy of matching each store with the neighborhood it services. Navy Pier is a Chicago landmark and tourist destination that attracts millions every year.

Target execs are also displaying a renewed focus on grocery offerings, announcing that the company plans to carry more organic, natural and local products.

Target thus joins a growing list of grocers that offer such services to their customers. A Whole Foods Market near the planned Chicago Target already serves alcohol and New York's Columbus Circle outlet boasts a 40-seat bar.

"Coming out of the recession, people are looking for affordable luxuries and more intimate experiences," Whole Foods CEO Walter Robb accounted for the trend in 2011.

Since then, other chains, like the Midwest's Hy-Vee Market Café, have added similar options, and even Starbucks has now added evening craft beer, wine and snacks to its perky morning menu.

"For an upscale, fresh grocery store, it makes sense because you're serving food and it's more of a place where people go after work to socialize," said David J. Livingston, a Wisconsin supermarket research consultant. "Normally, the [grocery stores] that have bars have a food service alternative, like dinner selections."