Not a bad store.... could be better. But it is better than the WalMart around the corner, mainly because it has a whole food section complete with fresh produce.
I used to be able to go there just because I wanted to check out their dollar section near the front of the store, which is a very nice hook and grab tactic they use to lure in customers. I always find stuff that seems super cool "for just a DOLLAR?!?!" but then it adds up. Somehow I never leave this place with under $50 worth of stuff that I can never figure out what I actually bought. It seems like whatever it was that I bought disappears once I get home and put it all away. Was it that important then? I probably could have saved the $50.
So I don't know what their trick is other than the dollar entry grab, and the fact that they do have a nice arts and craft section, which calls my name instantly, and makes me wander around for a while, wishing that I could buy all of it. But it's still all overpriced crap, but at least it's better than the WalMart down the street!! Seriously!
I did once splurge and got me a body pillow and a body pillow cover, which actually ended up costing the same as the pillow, but it was soooooooo worth it. I am a chronic insomniac, and I have a hard time getting comfortable. I am in my early 30s with no kids - never had one, never experienced the whole process or even part of it - but sometimes my joints feel like some old granny. But man, this was the BEST INVESTMENT EVER. I mean, the way I can hold this thing and put it between my knees to keep them from making my hips all pinched and ouchie, etc.... Man, this really made a difference in my sleep.
What drew me in was that they were selling a brand new pillow for like $3 or something one day, and if there is something that I cannot have enough of, it sure is pillows. So I definitely was scoping the pillow aisle, looking at the down pillows wishing they were the $3 ones.... yeah, the more you spend, the better quality and all that. But the body pillow, man, I thank you Target, for luring me in with that crappy $3 pillow on to the world of full body pillows. Ahhhh..
Anyway, so I think the health section is okay, and they do offer a lot of expensive products and beauty aids for the women. And I always like to check out their Mexican section to find the stuff that really works, like the bio-active sulfur soap, which I can't find anywhere else. It works so well on the skin! And the Rosa Something water. It was in spanish and confusing, but it was great on my skin, to soothe it. They have some rare products there that I can't find anywhere else, and although they do make you pay for it, it's sometimes worth it, and sometimes it's worth waiting for when you're on your deathbed.
What else. Oh I checked out their section on cleaning the air, like air purifiers. They are soooooo overpriced. I could not find one that I could simply use in my bedroom, like a small unit, for under $20. Everything was massive and expensive, and just the stupid refill filters, HEPA or otherwise, cost more than I expected to buy just for the whole shebangy bang. So I mostly browse and sigh.
The food selection is okay, but I wish they stocked white grapefruit juice. I am addicted to that stuff. But it is so hard to find a place that stocks it for a good price. WalMart does, or used to have a good price, but so does SafeWay. Ahem. Anyway, I do like their arts and crafts aisles, because they have a ton of things that I could make stuff out of, and I love arts and crafts. But all those pre-packaged put-together sets just don't do it for me, and they are overpriced.
Even their lamps are overpriced.
It's weird -- some things are like, really super pricewise, like getting a combo pack of my ink cartidges for my HP printer - a black and a color in one pack -- the cheapest price in the area outside of a printer ink refill shop. That's good. And they have my fave laundry detergent, Borax, for one of the cheapest prices in the area. And they do have a lot of eco-friendly and allergen-free and sensitive skin products, which is a bonus. But sometimes they are on sale, and sometimes not.
I just remember once I lost a hat there, one really cool hat I had put this really phat iron on patch of a spread of cards behind the ear of this winter hat with the pull down ears that were popular in 2010/2011 winter (pure white hat), and I don't know how I lost it, but no one turned it in. I was so heartbroken. Why aren't there more honest people in this world? I loved that hat and I had just ironed on that really dope patch and BAM, I lose it. I was quite sad. HONESTY PEOPLE, COME ON!
All in all, I think this store is pretty much a run of the mill, generic Target store, just like all the other ones. Some good, some bad. Needs more health-food support, like for vegans and vegetarians, and that white grapefruit juice, and I would be shopping there all the time.
Okay, I think that's all I can think of. read more