A shopper at a Target in Apple Valley, Minn., says the store turned a strip of six fitting rooms into a makeshift prayer area, roping off the hallway with retractable belts and posting a sign that read "Ramadan Mubarak." Another notice reportedly told people the room was "being used for prayer" and asked them not to enter, raising eyebrows among customers who later saw the images online.
According to GB News, photos shared by a customer show retractable barriers at both ends of the corridor, effectively closing off a row of six changing rooms. The outlet reports that the shopper snapped the images after discovering the area had been set aside as a worship space inside the Apple Valley store.
In one of the posted notices, the message reportedly read, "This room is being used for prayer. Please do not enter." Published Ramadan calendars place the end of Ramadan in 2026 around March 18, suggesting the signage remained up weeks after the holy month had concluded. Calendars compiled for 2026 indicate Ramadan wrapping up in mid-March, and Vibwish lists Ramadan’s close in that same mid-March window.
Local context
The Twin Cities area has a sizable Somali and broader Muslim community, and some local malls and institutions have already tested dedicated prayer spaces for shoppers or staff. In 2021, Rosedale Center in Roseville debuted a prayer room for Muslim visitors, a move that sparked conversation about how public and commercial spaces accommodate religious practice. The Star Tribune reported on that prayer room and the reactions it drew.
What the law says
Under federal employment law, companies must generally offer reasonable accommodations for employees’ sincerely held religious practices unless doing so creates an undue hardship for the business. Employers are expected to work through an accommodation process and evaluate each request in good faith. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lays out how that process should work in its official guidance. More detail on the legal framework is available from the EEOC.
Store details
The Apple Valley Target most often linked to the report is located at 15560 Pilot Knob Road in the south-metro area. Community listings identify that Pilot Knob store as one of two Target locations in Apple Valley. Local coverage and store directories, including Patch, list the same address and business hours.
So far, the publicly circulated photos remain the clearest record of how the setup looked. The images alone do not clarify whether the space was meant primarily for Target team members, for customers, or as a short-term arrangement tied to a specific observance. Even so, the makeshift prayer corridor has stirred online debate and now sits alongside earlier local experiments in carving out corners of retail real estate for religious use.
