Target used to be jam-packed with people

Recession.

Biden inflation. They all now shop at Walmart.

[quote]Now it’s barren and there’s no lines despite the parking lot being full.

Those are people living in their cars.

One thing about Target is that their in store pricing is more than online. I stopped buying in store because it adds up.

R4, you shouldn't have to do this, but if you show the cashier (or the helper at self check-out) the online price, they will adjust your price downward. I just show the self-checkout helper my phone and they will override the bar code on the item.

Anyway, my local Target is still busy. Too busy, in fact. I try to get there at off-peak hours.

Amazon.

R5, yeah, I used to do that, but one of the stores I go to makes you go to another section and wait on another line. Plus, you have to show them every item online. It got to be a hassle.

I do prefer to order from Target and Walmart to Amazon, which sells a lot of fake stuff, complete with fake reviews.

Who’s going to Target on Labor Day weekend?

Target has excellent online and shipping.

People are shopping online.

They have a whole section for people picking up online orders.

I think Target is trying to be like Amazon, now. The last time I ordered something online from Target, I noticed there's a same-day delivery option for $60 / year or something like that.

Supply chain issues. One too many times of going in and them not having what you need will cause people to take their business elsewhere.

There are still a lot of people who don't like to go in public if they can avoid it, and when they do venture to a store like Target they get what they need, pay and leave rather than browse around and come into contact with Target shoppers.

Actual shopping is so 20th century grandpa.

I no longer enjoy going to big box stores. Im not afraid of covid, its just depressing now for some reason.

People park in their parking lots to kill themselves.

My local Target is still plenty busy. They remodeled over the last couple years and now I find the store very unappealing to shop in. The floors are now dark concrete and they’ve arranged everything at odd angles so maneuvering carts around is a pain. The pharmacy/beauty section is the worst. I think they’re trying to make it into some kind of boutique experience but it’s impossible to find anything. If I wanted to shop at Bath and Body Works or Sephora I’d go to the mall. Give me an industrial shelf well-stocked with easy to see price tags

They're at Secret Target. You have to know where the portal is (in my store, it's right next to the men's dressing room). And of course you have to find an employee who can give you the matching puzzle piece to help you pass through the portal (there's never an employee around). But then you just descend through the Magic Rings and you're there. It's really amazing down there - they have everything you can never find on the shelf, and everything is 75% off. And last time I was there, Taylor Swift was giving an impromptu concert in the home furnishings department.

I don't want to shop on-line and risk porch theft when the stuff is delivered, but I also don't want to shop in a store and risk catching Covid and/or getting shot. If everyone were like me, capitalism would die sooner rather than later.

Depends on where you are and what time of day. My Target is usually pretty busy.

And I love their drive-up service -- pretty much every other store that sells groceries (supermarkets, Walmart, etc.) requires a $35 minimum purchase for the service to be free -- Target doesn't have a minimum. So it's very handy.

[quote]Now it’s barren and there’s no lines despite the parking lot being full. What’s going on?

They're closed.

I was going to say what R16 and R18 said. Every time they do a Target upgrade, it gets less appealing. Has the lighting changed? I thought "Oh, they're remodeling," then "Wait--they're done?"

There's a war-torn vibe I feel there now, but that is creeping in everywhere. These are yucky times.

I went to my first Target in years today. It was incredibly clean, very nice, and did not give me the trailer-white trash heebie-jeebies/end of civilization vibe that the typical Walmart reeks of. It was great. I am going to shop there from now on.

R13 the supply chain issues are mostly resolved especially in mass merchandising,

Wasn't Target one of the stores that turned down the AC during heat waves? Or was that just BB&B?

R20 if everyone were like you our population would die off by year’s end.

R27 Is that a bad thing?

Yeah r28. Bad.

Magic Spoon cereal really sucks.

^So do I.

My partner orders stuff from Target and every time the box and contents look like they’ve been in a war zone. More than once a bottle of lotion or shampoo has opened in shipping and ruined everything else in the box. They just throw things in oversized boxes without padding them or making any effort to keep them stable. They’ve been really good at replacing ruined orders for free though.

R26 yes. They did.

Sometimes I use the curbside pickup.

My local Target doesn't have curbside pickup. You can order stuff online and they'll pull it off the shelves for you. But you still have to go inside the store to pick it up.

I wish good ole crappy Walmart opened more of its neighborhood concept stores. There’s one in a town close to mine and it’s a pleasure. No clothes or furniture, but everything else nicely laid out and well-stocked.

The Targets here are the old generic ones, laid out poorly and jam packed with screaming children. They’ve also become very dirty. Nearly Kmart level dirty.

So funny, I read that Target is becoming the new KMart somewhere recently (their sales are also down big time).

I actually like food shopping in my local Target. No, you can't get everything you need there. But they have a few of the things I do need, at good prices.

My local Target is just a little bit further away than I like to drive.

I love the Targets with full size grocery stores in them. You can sort of combine two errands into one. Where I am Targets are still very much the anti-Walmart. Trash goes to Walmart and Target is very much geared to the upper middle class housewives. They're very clean and neat.

R36 Yes! We had a couple smaller Walmart neighborhood stores, worth the short drive for groceries and pet supplies.

R36 / R37 I liked the early K-Marts. Great deals on electronics, small appliances, and gardening supplies. I bought a Martha Stewart patio furniture set that I still use. Sorry to see them go.

[quote] Biden inflation.

Trump inflation.

Because everyone is tired of dealing with all the asshole parking lots, SUVs, drivers, traffic, checkout lines, and annoying and obnoxious shoppers they have to deal with and run into at these and other stores, shopping centers and malls. The toxicity and negativity are just not worth the stress of it all anymore.

The one by me is endlessly busy and hopelessly under-stocked. The best time for me to go is around 10-11 am, on a Tuesday-Thursday, in regards to fewest people & the most product.

R44 is the under-stocked thing since the pandemic or was it always under-stocked?

Same with bed bath and beyond. End of the world vibes.

It was that way before as well, r45. It’s poorly managed. Te best thing I can say is, that during the pandemic they did the most they could to stay open & have products. I had to grocery shop there a lot in ‘20-‘21 and while it wasn’t ideal, it was better than the lines & empty shelves at TJ’s & Safeway.

That said, it is very poorly run though. Time before last, no clerks at all for checkout. I’m fine with self-checkout, but I had vodka. I’m old, tired and I don’t want to go to another store. I had to get rung up at Customer Service.

R19 I thought that was where the gloryholes were. Lots of fat old men hanging around.

Lots of responses not addressing the full parking lot. Gay reading deficiency is worse than the Monkeypox.

I fucking hate Target. A Target shopper is just a Walmart Shopper who thinks their shit foesn't stink and doesn't understand the value of a dollar. Plus, Target is also a company that used to make to make applicants take a test that would indicate which applicants may be gay. Target commercials always feature queer owned Coffee Company owners and black hair care company owners & virtue signal about diversity hard, but you rarely see those people working or shopping in their stores. They work overtime to cultivate the people who like to espouse those virtues but don't live by those virtues. I can walk into a Walmart right now and find people working there who are in wheelchairs, are wearing burkas, may not speak English as a first language, are wearing bindis, and so on & so on. Never at Target. They also suffered a huge loss is sales this year--90%, no joke. The "shop here cuz you're better than everyone else" schtick only goes so far.

Target has lots of charging stations for electric cars. Target also has lots of parking spots in general, great for sleeping, smoking weed, eating your lunch on your break, hiding from cops and sexting your side piece. Also Uber drivers gotta wait somewhere for their next rider.

Here's link to one story:

It's easier to shoplift in busier store, so I hope they get their shit together.

What the fuck r90? The story regarding profits might be accurate, but your attitude is bizarre. We’re talking about Target, not Saks.

That’s an interesting observation. All stores used to be crowded. I’m thinking back to places like Macy’s in the 1980s, malls. All crowded and bustling. It was nice. I don’t love being the old guy moaning about how so many things used to be better, but I just can’t come to any other conclusion.

I meant r51. I am hiiiiigh.

I go to Target occasionally and have noticed that almost all of them in my area have been undergoing some nebulous "renovation" for months that only seems to result in the shelves often being barren and the parking lot full of multiple large storage containers. I have seen very little in the way of "construction" so the whole thing seems very bizarre to me.

In some of these stores, I've noticed that certain products are now under lock and key (you can't even get razors or toothpaste—it's all behind locked glass). It certainly makes me averse to shopping in a brick-and-mortar store when the most basic items have to be unlocked by a sales associate. Super inconvenient. It's no doubt due to them losing a significant amount of product to thieves.

COVID has fucked up everything

The have the huge Tide containers under lock and key in the Van Nuys, CA Target. How is anyone stealing those?

I think they fill up shopping carts with Tide and push it out the door when no one is looking.

The only people shopping in stores are the Great Unwashed.

You’d be crazy to set foot in a store today by choice. Absolute ghetto mess, even previously nice stores.

R60 stealing is basically legal at this point in a lot of major US cities. People don't care, and the employees see it happen so many times in a workday that they don't even acknowledge it. I can't count the number of times I've watched people walk out of stores without paying for their merchandise.

R59 people just fill up their cart with whatever they want and walk out the door without paying. Nothing under $950 of theft is prosecuted in LA County. And the stores are afraid of having security guards who actually do anything, lest they be accused of bullying people or being racist or having their employees do dangerous work (even thought loss prevention is what retail security guards are paid to do).

r50, totally gets it. Target is Walmart for snobs. They both carry the same crap, but Target is 10% more for the privledge of shopping there. Paying more for the same stuff is foolish

OP aid one of the closet cases who trolls boards related to retail (there are a number) carrying on as though Armageddon is upon his. I’ve been to Several different Targets recently and all seems to be normal.

[quote]Target is Walmart for snobs.

Target is Walmart without all the mess.

R50 makes a good point. Target has a repeated history of saying one thing while doing another.

Take hobby lobby for example, which does horrible things but they also say horrible things. I’d never step foot in there but at least they don’t whitewash their internal vs external values.

@r66, Is that worth 10% higher prices? Not to me. I can get down with the peasants for 10% savings

Target is on my list of companies that do what I call “split-retailing”

This is when a nationwide company will split their retail shops into desirable and undesirable locations.

The desirable locations will be immaculate and have all the latest features and services while the undesirable locations will have the opposite.

Bank of America does this big time.

This is probably a separate thread but you get the gist.

It’s essentially racists. ^

This is different from franchise companies that could make the argument that different locations are owned by different people, etc…

This is all the same company.

With Bank of America you can take $10 from an ATM in the either neighborhood but can’t take out $10 in a black neighborhood. You have to round it up to $20.

Bet you didn’t know that.

*white neighborhood

R61 is unsufferable

The pandemic taught people that it's just much easier to get all the same crap from Amazon.

[quote]Is that worth 10% higher prices?

For me it is. But I totally understand that doesn't work for everyone. For me, life's too short to have to deal with trash, if you don't have to.

Who the hell still uses ATMs except for old people?

Walmart is just depressing. The dregs of humanity. The Targets in my area are always clean and orderly and the clientele are normal people who bathe regularly. I like the convenience of online shopping, but when I need laundry detergent or toothpaste I'll just go to a store and buy it.

When the Walmart is across the street from the Target you're going to get pretty much the same clientele. I live in an upscale resort town and there's just as many Bentleys and Range Rovers in the Walmart parking lot as in the Target parking lot

r79 that's not true in my area. Walmart is trash and Target has regular upper middle class/middle class people.

Too much outdated inventory leading to sell-off at lower margin.

The big-box retailer missed Wall Street’s expectations by a wide margin, even after the company itself lowered guidance twice.

“If we hadn’t dealt with our excess inventory head on, we could have avoided some short-term pain on the profit line, but that would have hampered our longer-term potential,” he said on a call with reporters. “While our quarterly profit took a meaningful step down, our future path is brighter.”

The company reiterated its full-year forecast, saying it is now positioned for a rebound. It said it expects full-year revenue growth in the low to mid single digits. Target also said its operating margin rate will be in a range around 6% in the second half of the year. That would represent a jump from its operating margin rate of 1.2% in the fiscal second quarter.

Every thread is eventually reduced to a class war.

Yes, r82, especially when weirdo trolls like r50 get involved.

[quote]Who the hell still uses ATMs except for old people?

Decent people. who like to tip their servers and other workers in cash. Scumbags love to just add the tip onto the credit/debit card so that they have to pay taxes on it

But you go right ahead and keep doing what you're doing.

A supermarket I usually shop, has been a lot emptier for the past few months. It's nice, as the checkout lines aren't long, but it is a little sad. Even Wegman's, in my area, isn't as full.

As already mentioned but bears repeating: there is no minimum purchase for Target curbside pickup.

If you just need Cascade for the dishwasher and half & half for tomorrow morning's coffee and there's a Target on your way home from the work or you live very close by one, you can have your $18 order brought to your car. There's a $35 minimum order at Walgreens, Walmart and most everywhere else for curbside.

[quote]But you go right ahead and keep doing what you're doing.

Along with most other people, gramps. Cash is for olds.

JFC r84. Anything and everything can be turned into a self-righteous, virtue signaling "I'm better and more noble than you" display. What a bore.

The moron who labeled the problem “Biden inflation” must not live in a place such as Europe, where in many places inflation is even higher.

If you think this is a Biden issue, you have a lot to learn.

[quote] Biden inflation

I guess Pres. Biden is responsible for the inflation all over the rest of the world as well? How stupid of you. If you want to blame someone for the current inflation, blame Putin. His war with Ukraine is the cause.

Americans have no idea how good Western Europeans have it. Yes, Europeans pay more in taxes but unlike in America, the taxes actually go back to the people and benefit them and their quality of life.

I personally have reduced my Target visits because of Amazon

People are broke, OP.

I used to hit target up regularly, while living in WeHo.

Now?

No way. I’m still attempting to catch up on moving to another state, getting a job in said state, while dealing with CoViD prevention, getting sick with viruses that aren’t CoViD (like the flu or a really bad ENT infection), and making regular payments towards rent, and other creditors.

I hate being late on bills, etc., but where I live? Times are tough.

Groceries are insanely expensive, as is vehicle insurance, and pretty much anything else.

I’m definitely grateful to be back home, but it ain’t easy.

I would have loved to stay closer to where o was before I was forced to come back home, because it was so much cheaper. But I just didn’t have the time to get that happening.

Life is REALLY expensive right now, OP.

I don’t need any more junk. That’s why I avoid Target

I also don’t have a Walmart near me, so to go to one I have to walk or drive a lot farther than the 1/4 mile that Target is from my door.

At Walmart, I have to get a clerk to unlock the deodorant, razors, some medicines and the alcohol. At Target, I don’t. At Target, many things are less expensive than Safeway or Trader Joe’s, my closest options. I also don’t know when I’m going to run out of things, having a store nearby is a lot easier than ordering from Amazon. Sometimes I forget there was only two cans of cat food left or I want some cough syrup. NOW.

If you like Walmart so much, go to it then, but jumping on anyone who goes to Target for legitimate reasons reveals you to be the troublemaker you set out to be.

The little cartridge replacements for my Gillette razor handle are really expensive, more than $30. You don't even get that many.

^ $28 for 8 at Walmart... See

^^ $50 for 20 at Costco

OK, thanks, guys for the info on the Gillette razor cartridges. I do need to stock up soon.

Eldergay Ludditism is so bizarre to me.

Especially because i know many people over 60, gay and straight, who are not like that.

Retails stores are fucked because of internet commerce.

To wit: the cleaning lady texted me yesterday that she needs more Lemon Pledge.

I can go on Amazon and in about 2 minutes order 2 cans that will arrive the next day.

Versus heading to a store that (a) may or may not be out of Lemon Pledge, and (b) where I have to try and figure out where furniture polish might be, and then (c) deal with any potential checkout lines or self-checkout hassles.

Zellers is coming back. I waiting for that.

R100, online isn't always cheaper and certainly not Amazon. Don't trip over the cliff edge.

[quote]Versus heading to a store that (a) may or may not be out of Lemon Pledge, and (b) where I have to try and figure out where furniture polish might be, and then (c) deal with any potential checkout lines or self-checkout hassles.

What a crisis. How great your suffering must be in all things.

Eldergays get really touchy about being Luddites too

WTF R102 - so I spent an extra dollar on Pledge to avoid the store?

It's funny about getting touchy when you're called something incorrectly and unfairly by a weird, aspergery little shit.

Lemon Pledge sounds eldergay, actually.

That said, I do have a can of Pledge spray, but it's the unscented one.

We don't need any more shit.

Not everybody goes to Target to buy throw pillows, decorative shit, and clothing they don't need.

I go there for consumables and basics, including groceries.

Going to physical stores is strictly for the unbanked.

OP thinks the Target he goes to is the only Target in existence.

R109 is a shut in

[quote] Americans have no idea how good Western Europeans have it. Yes, Europeans pay more in taxes but unlike in America, the taxes actually go back to the people and benefit them and their quality of life.

Like freezing to death come winter. lol

All these dataloungers shopping at Target.

TARGET.

Mary!

OP you sure you weren't in a Kmart?

r100 online ordering is great for shut-ins, but if I want to get some Lemon Pledge I can go to the grocery store that's three minutes from my house. Sure I order online but stuff like toiletries and cleaning products are just a few minutes away from me.

All their tee shirts have this dropping neck on the back and it’s extremely uncomfortable.

Moral of the story: don't buy clothing from Target.

The parked cars are filled by with drivers, waiting patiently, as long as it takes, for The Signal.

[quote] Lemon Pledge sounds eldergay, actually.

SMH-- it's an "Family Guy" reference- a popular show from the 00s and 10s

Target’s issue is that they require you to use an app to get the “sale” price and thus have to whip out your phone or type something in at check out. Walmart doesn’t do that.

I like Target, but I would never buy clothes from Target. That's not what Target is for.

[quote]Target’s issue is that they require you to use an app to get the “sale” price and thus have to whip out your phone or type something in at check out. Walmart doesn’t do that.

Because the Target demographic is able to do that, the Walmart demo is not.

You just scan your app at the register, like you do at grocery stores, and get all the sale prices. JFC r120 how old are you?

The snobbery about Target here is funny as shit. "I shop on Amazon". Well, get off your fat ass and participate in the real world

[quote]Target’s issue is that they require you to use an app to get the “sale” price and thus have to whip out your phone or type something in at check out.

Swiping your phone app at the register has been standard operating procedure for most retail stores for some years now.

[quote]The snobbery about Target here is funny as shit.

This is a DL staple when it comes to threads like this. Extremely stereotypical gay men who are insecure about their social status and are obsessed with what they think "upper class" people do and don't do.

In this case, I don't think it's that at all R125. I can't speak for every location in the country, but Target, compared to Walmart, is just the better store. It's cleaner, more organized, and your risk of getting stabbed in the parking lot is much lower. During the pandemic I just Amazoned or Instacarted everything, but there are times when you just want to get out of the House.

[quote]Walmart is just depressing. The dregs of humanity.

Where in the hell do you people live?

My local Walmart is perfectly ok. The customers, the workers, the way the merchandise is displayed. Not much different than any other low cost retailer that I can remember.

[quote][quote]Target commercials always feature queer owned Coffee Company owners and black hair care company owners & virtue signal about diversity hard, but you rarely see those people working or shopping in their stores. They work overtime to cultivate the people who like to espouse those virtues but don't live by those virtues. I can walk into a Walmart right now and find people working there who are in wheelchairs, are wearing burkas, may not speak English as a first language, are wearing bindis, and so on & so on. Never at Target.

Marketing, staffing and clientele vary from store to store, none of that applies to any of the Target stores I frequent or commercials I see. Like R5 I try to limit my shopping to off peak hours to avoid crowds, on the rare occasion I end up at a full service Target during the afternoon rush there is always someone standing by the self-checkout with a tablet to checkout customers who only have a few items.

[quote][bold]Walmart Isn't Much Cheaper[/bold] Dedicated Target shoppers insist they aren't spending much more at Target than they would at Walmart. Indeed, our recent comparison of drugstore pricing revealed that Walmart beat Target in some areas, but not all. Target devotees also point to the Circle program, which offers discounts throughout the store, and the 5% REDcard discount as other ways to narrow any savings gap.

[quote][bold]Walmart Still Lags on Customer Service[/bold] Shoppers say it's easier to find reliable help at Target than Walmart. And there's data to back that up: Walmart is perennially below Target in the American Customer Service Index, based on annual interviews with 70,000 customers. But it's worth noting that Walmart has made high-profile efforts to close the gap, including beefed-up online associate training and management academies. It's just that it hasn't worked. Target was in the top 100 customer-centric companies of 2022 — Walmart wasn't.

[quote][bold]Target Is a Go-To For Those Who Vote Blue[/bold] Target has higher net favorability among Democrats than Republicans (71 percent versus 53 percent, respectively) while the opposite is true for Walmart.

^ The article didn't mention this but Walmart sells guns, Target doesn't.

r126 the snobby queens on here look down on Target.

[quote]Along with most other people, gramps. Cash is for olds.

Look at you. Announcing to the world what a piece of shit you are. You're gleefully screw over waitstaff who earn $2.10

And you're so proud of it, you've mentioned it twice. You're probably too stupid to use an ATM.

r131 waitstaff still get their tips. And only the hyperbolic eldergays on DL could equate not using cash with being a piece of shit.

My straight elderly relatives in the suburbs are more tech savvy than the eldergays on here. It's nuts. It's like you've all been living in a cave since the 90s.

At Target, I can get ground pork for $2.99 a pound vs, 5.99 at Trader Joe’s and Seagrams 1.5L for $13.99. That’s less than Bev-Mo or Total Wine, but if it goes lower they price match.

[quote]waitstaff still get their tips.

R132, I'm not R131 but tip pooling and credit card processing fees are both issues among front of the house restaurant staff, there have been numerous tip pooling lawsuits over the years.

Seagram's and pork party at R133's place!

Ginger ale is only good in cans or 1 L bottles.

Ok is it 1.5?

Just not the big bottles and not the 20oz. The fizz is never right in those sizes.

R83...You responded to a post about this thread devolving into a class war & with the countless amount of post with people saying how they avoid Walmart because of all trash that shops there...and you singled out my post as an example of class? You are indeed a moron.