The Reason Behind Target’s Balls

If you’ve shopped at Target, you know the iconic red balls standing guard by the entrance. These spheres aren’t just fun decorations — they’re bollards, and they have a serious job to do. Target stores have these red balls in front of them to serve as vehicle barriers that protect the building and shoppers.

The Pros and Cons of Decorative Barriers

The balls in front of Target stores transform a functional safety requirement into an instantly recognizable branding element. Target uses its bollard balls as clever visual strategies to reinforce its signature red aesthetic and highlight the bullseye at the center of its logo. Beyond that, Target balls have also been used to help promote events, like game launches.

Target wrapped the balls to look like Poké Balls and Pokémon during a Pokémon GO promotion and decorated them to look like Kirby when the game Kirby and the Forgotten Land came out. While Target decorates its balls as a strategic branding element, they’re actually bollards that create protective barriers against vehicles. However, this visual preference has drawbacks. Decorative bollards primarily guide pedestrian traffic and often carry lower impact ratings.

Why Tested Bollards Are the Most Reliable Solution

Tested bollards are engineered for protection while allowing you to add aesthetic elements that align with your brand. Blockaides’ crash-rated bollards are designed to meet ASTM F3016 and F2656 standards — the industry benchmarks for vehicle impact resistance. These standards simulate real-world collision scenarios involving different vehicle weights and impact speeds.

Businesses can choose between multiple tested bollard options that deliver superior protection while supporting customization:

• Fixed and surface-mounted bollards: Permanent installations that create a reliable protective perimeter without requiring ongoing maintenance, ideal for locations with consistent access patterns
• Removable bollards: Provide flexible access control for areas that occasionally need vehicle entry, such as loading zones or event spaces, while maintaining security when in place
• Automatic bollards: Rising or telescopic barriers operated by pneumatic, hydraulic or electric systems that allow authorized vehicle access while preventing unauthorized entry
• Crash-rated security bollards: Manufactured from carbon steel or stainless steel and tested to ASTM standards, these bollards carry the highest impact ratings and undergo rigorous testing to verify performance against vehicle strikes

Beyond structural performance, these barriers offer aesthetic flexibility through bollard covers and powder coating that match company colors, materials and design preferences. The result is a protective perimeter that serves both functional and visual purposes without compromise.

Confidently Protect Your Business With Blockaides

Blockaides delivers crash-rated bollards that meet rigorous testing standards while offering design options to align with your storefront aesthetic. Ready to combine visual appeal with certified protection? Contact us today for a security consultation and a free quote.