You Pinspire Me
Dear Target Canada:
I’m not going to say that I’m surprised. I mean, I am, but not really. The writing was on the wall: every quarterly report that was released said the same thing: you were in trouble. But I thought that I’d have more time. I thought that maybe you’d close down four of the six stores within a 20 minute drive from my house. I thought that I’d still be able to pick up your cute unique seasonal knick knacks somewhere in town. I didn’t know that THIS September was my LAST September to buy clearance school bags & lunch kits for my kiddos who haven’t started school yet – if you had’ve only told me, I could have been more prepared.
I remember sitting at my desk at work in January 2011 when the big news was announced: Target was (finally) coming to Canada! Callooh Callay, what a joyous day! The fact that you were taking over Zellers and putting them (and their shoppers) out of their misery was an added bonus.
TARGET WAS COMING!! When the locations were finally announced, I was beside myself: I was going to have TWO locations within a five minute drive! Four more within 20 minutes!
While others got hyped up, convincing themselves that you were going to be the polite but equally awesome cheap twin of your American counterpart, I knew that wasn’t going to happen. I was working in a book store – I knew how American / Canadian pricing worked. Besides the fact that you just couldn’t afford to sell the goods at American pricing because, duh, this is the Canadian market, not cross-border shopping right in your hometown!, you would have to pay your employees a lot more in Canada than you do in the States! I was fine with that.
What I wanted was the fun merchandise that you don’t find at Wal-Mart. I wanted the adult-sized penguin onesies that I saw in Michigan 4 years ago! I wanted to super cute holiday t-shirts with small, simple, tasteful rhinestone designs on them! I wanted the sales & coupons. I wanted the cool things in the dollar bins. I desperately wanted something that wasn’t Zellers or Wal-Mart.
The first of your locations to open in Hamilton was in the North End. I don’t go there often. In a city this big, I rarely have the need to drive 20 minutes across town to go shopping (I pass about 20 grocery stores and several shopping centres on the way) – but I did it for YOU. The store was anything BUT quiet – shopping carts were hard to come by that morning, and even the sidewalks outside the store were busy with people milling around the iconic red concrete spheres. I was impressed, though slightly disappointed that I didn’t see more of the neat knick knacks & onesies that I’d been hoping for. It actually took me about 20 minutes to figure out where on the price tag the price was located (though now I can glimpse it easily as I amble past).
This past winter, YOU were the key to my sanity. I couldn’t take my one and two year old outside in -25 weather (day in and day out, those months were looooong), so I’d pack them into the van and we’d park in one of the (many, God Bless You!) spots reserved for ‘Families with Small Children and Expectant Mothers’ in front of our favourite location. The kids would choose the cart and we’d spend an hour browsing.
I’d let the kids out of the cart now and again so that they could get a little energy out and your team members were always SO good with them. I never felt pressured to grab them and stuff them back in the cart so as not to disturb anyone. The stores were so clean – we used the bathrooms every time we were in the store and never once found them wanting. The lights were bright – but not cold – and the aisles were easy to navigate with a cart. Those were happy days in the midst of a long and bitterly cold winter.
In the literally hundreds of times that I’ve been in your stores, I’ve only once come across an employee who I thought was probably chosen for his devilishly handsome good looks as opposed to his mental capacity. Seriously – you guys know how to pick a team. Friendly, helpful, fast, courteous – the Target team went out of their way to help us out. I found some awesome place mats on clearance but there were only 4 – I wanted 6 or 8! The young man I spoke with checked his scanner and told me that I already had all the place mats from this location in my cart. A few minutes later he found me elsewhere in the store and offered to call all the other locations to see if they had any left.
I caught on to the clearance sales pretty quickly. I’d read rumors on Pinterest about the amazing clearance deals at Target US, and I wasn’t let down – though in retrospect, the frequency & amount of stock in these clearance sales should have been a bright red flag to me that all was not well in your world. 90% off = GREAT for me…not so good for you. I told everyone I knew that they should go see YOU for all of their birthday party needs, but not everyone was drawn to you the way that I was. And then, you agreed to team up with me & my sister for our trip to Blissdom Canada, a huge blogging & social media conference in Mississauga. It was amazing, and SO MUCH FUN! We felt so spoiled to go on a shopping spree with the express purchase to buy things for US, not for anyone else in our family! Everyone loved our outfits – and I even found one of the onesies that I’d been hoping you’d carry! (wasn’t a penguin onesie, but Hello Kitty did just fine in a pinch.)
Help me decide in the next FIVE MINUTES: yes or no for the #blissdomca PJ party tonight?? @targetcanada #targetstyle A photo posted by jennvb (@jennvb) on
Ever since the news broke, I’ve been in a state of shock. Target Canada closing?! I stayed away for three weeks (which may be my longest break with you, ever) because I didn’t want to deal with the reality of not having you around anymore. I mean, listen, Target Canada, you’re a pretty BIG part of my life. What am I going to DO when you’re gone? Go back to shopping at Wal-Mart? Ugh. And if not Wal-Mart, then WHERE? GT Boutique has some decent stuff, but they seriously lack the quality that you have. I feel… betrayed. I invested myself in you! I allowed myself to get attached, to really feel something for you! You didn’t even tell me that you were having doubts about our relationship – you just checked out, 100%.
I can’t take two steps in my house without being reminded of you. The electric mattress pad heater on our bed (clearance, $52.97); the cute divided plates that the kids use at lunch (clearance, $0.25); the kids’ craft station (Crayola crayons: $0.25; safety scissors: $0.47; construction paper: $0.99; glue: $0.17); the toilet paper holder in the bathroom, the broom, the place mats, the Market Pantry oats, the entire outfit that I’m wearing right now!
I’m mad at you, Target Canada. You could have been awesome – you could have been an institution, but you’re throwing in the towel after 1.5 years. You could have hedged your bets a little and started out with two locations in town, not six. Now you’re leaving me, and my only option is a long distance relationship from Hamilton to Michigan. I’m warning you, I’ve done that before and not even a super cute boy could keep me coming back for longer than 6 months.
I’ll miss you.
XOXO
Jenn vanOosten
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My feelings and experience exactly, minus the kids. I’m switching to Home Sense, but they don’t have quite the exact style that I liked at Target. Poo.
I’m sad mad too.
Hamilton to Michigan?! That’s a 3.5 hr drive….why wouldnt you come to Niagara Falls, NY Target? From Hamilton that’s about an hour and a half drive 😉 (or you can come have tea with me and we can throw rocks across the Niagara Gorge @ the Target from my back yard) lol
There IS method to my madness – my Mother In Law lives in Sarnia, so previously I have saved all of my Target shopping for when we go visit her. We pop over the border first thing in the morning on a Saturday, do some shopping, then come back in time for lunch. 🙂
I miss Target like crazy also. It’s left a void in Canada. I would go quite often and picked up stuff that ended up sometimes cheaper than Walmart.