The Weekly Rant: Target in the Bullseye, again

Here’s what’s P-ing me O, frosting my hide, and generally adding to my disgruntlement this week.

Target: Yes, again. I made a trip to Target in Elk Grove yesterday because I needed (a) knickers, and (b) Benadryl. Yes, despite the fact that just last week, I vowed never to darken Target’s door again, which followed on from my July visit when I made a similar vow. Despite all this, I determined that my principles had to be sacrificed on the alter of my sorry financial state. I tell you all this so you know that going in, I had made the mature determination to make my purchases without fuss or folderol. Ha!

I made it past the rows of huge, plastic shopping carts that they are now featuring at Target. I didn’t let myself wonder why they had 86-ed the old carts, which seemed to work just fine. I refused to muse on why the hell the new carts were so BIG. And so PLASTIC. They’re like a big lady version of a little kid’s shopping cart.

I did note, however, that the recent remodel of Target has led to wider aisles, which was, I suppose, a good thing. But the total effect was that there was toooooo muuucch roooomm on the shelves. Every aisle I went down, I got the same impression. Used to be Target was chockablock full of stock. Choices galore. Colors, sizes, brands–you name it. But now, now not so much. Not even a little. The stock that was on the shelves looked, well, lonely, not to mention forlorn. Like there wasn’t enough of it to go around so they had spread it out as best they could to give the illusion the shelves were stocked. But if you looked closely, you could see that there was no depth of merchandise and the choices of brands were, in a word, limited.

When I got to the drug department, it was the same story. Five, maybe six different brands of allergy medicine. No Benedryl.  Down there skulking on the lowest shelf were Target’s own version, but only in the basic dosage, which was not at all what I wanted.  I came all this way and sacrificed my principles for–nothing? I asked the ever-so-unhelpful person behind the pharmacy counter why the product choices seemed so limited on the shelves. “Were they going out of business?”

“Oh no,” she said, “It’s just that the economy is bad and so they haven’t been able to hire enough people to keep the shelves properly stocked.”  Gosh darn that crummy economy.

I don’t think it’s a stocking issue or that Target is going out of business.  I do think, however, they’re undergoing a major revamping, not only of their stores but also of their target (!) audience. Used to be, Target was a cool place to shop. Lots of designer goods. An appreciation for the well-made whatever. Target was definitely not Wal or K or any of those down-scale Marts. But they now seem to wannabe a Mart.  And I’m wondering if there’s a connection between the new target demographic and the campaign contribution to an extreme right-wing candidate.  Seems to me if you’re aiming at the Nascar crowd, having a Tea Party Conservative governor would be a very good thing.

You may wonder why I even care. I do have a proprietary interest in Target, going back to my post-aneurysm recovery. Other people may go to rehab; I went to Target. D. would drive me there and I would wander up and down each aisle using the cart as a walker. An hour later, he would pick me up and I’d have had my outing for the day as well as my exercise. And maybe I’d bought a thing or two. So I care that Target is selling me out in favor of some broader-based demographic. It feels very personal to me.

I hesitate to ascribe the rant to a particular day of the week–The Friday Rant? Nah, no poetry there. However, I definitely have a regular rant category in mind. And I’m open to making it a party. If you have a really good rant, send it, and we’ll post it on MidLifeBloggers.

Tagged as: cerebral aneurysm, economy, Politics, the Economy and Other Serious Stuff, rant, shopping, Target, the Economy and Other Serious Stuff