Target

 

I've been boycotting Target like so many others.  But to be honest, I wasn't really boycotting because there wasn't one near me and when I did go to one it was either a mess or didn't have what I wanted or needed. Why would I go?  So while I was disappointed in Target's changes when it comes to what I would like to call humanity (as in ALL people should be treated with respect and diversity is an important and good thing), it didn't prevent me from going, it just wasn't a place I was going to go out of my way to shop at unless absolutely necessary (which it rarely was).

However, a Target has recently opened nearby.  It's been all the buzz.  This huge gap at a strip mall which once housed K Mart (before that Caldor and I believe before that Korvettes) and was a testing and vaccination site during the height of Covid (where my son got tested right before Christmas 2021...although we didn't really need the test, practically every kid he had been in contact with had tested positive and he was feeling rotten...what else could it be?).  It had been empty and sad for a long time.  And then Target decided to move it.

But Target didn't just move it, they took over.  Over the years (decades?), the space had been broken up into smaller shops.  So what was left in this large strip mall was a Jersey Mikes, Chipotle and Whole Foods (all of which still exist at the location and do very well), a small eyeglasses place (gone) and finally a Staples and Family Dollar which were pushed out by Target.  Other smaller businesses on the outskirts were closed as well (like Mavis Tire).  And for months, the parking lot was a mess.  (Okay, it's still a mess.  A REAL mess.)  For months there was construction.  And the promise of a shiny new Target.

It finally opened officially on the 29th of last month (although I have heard that there was a soft opening the week before).  I thought about checking it out, but the lot...well it has always been total chaos there.  It's not much better now.  Exits and entrances are very clear.  Construction is still going on in the lot and in the peripheral shop.  (What is going to happen to that Mavis?  How is the Verizon store still managing to stay alive?  I ought to go to Frank's Pizza because they have to be good to have managed to survive all these years with all these crazy changes.)  It's a mess.  I suspect it's going to be a mess for a LONG time. Oh heck, it's going to be a mess FOREVER.  Why would I want to go there?

But then I got a coupon in the mail...Coupons are so hard for me to resist, so...

I went after work, which you know is NOT the best time to go.  The lot was insane!  Cars driving every which way.  Maybe I should have waited?  But to be honest, the lot has always been insane.  It's never going to get any better, so I gave it a go.  

Getting a spot wasn't easy.  I don't mind parking a distance away, but just finding a space, even a distance away was a challenge.  

Once I found a spot, getting into the store wasn't easy either.  Cars aren't going to let a little thing like a pedestrian trying to get into the store stop them from driving.  Yes, you are taking your life into your hands walking from your vehicle to the door.  I mean it!  I REALLY mean it!

When I got inside, I didn't know where to go.  The place is huge!  (Remember it replaces a KMart, Staples and Family Dollar) There used to be a downstairs, and I'm sure there still is, but it may not be accessible to customers.  I walked all around the store; purposely going in the opposite direction of the department that I wanted.  (I was there to try and get some pre-cut fruit to take to the office for breakfast).  I did an outer perimeter walk.  There was too much to take in and I didn't want to spend too much time there.

I will say that it is much brighter and open than what has been there before.  They have a LOT of "stuff”, but I didn't focus on what I didn't need.  The thing about Target (in general) is that they seem to have a bit of everything.  (However, I'd like to say that LaneCo did it first and I still miss that store!)  It's not unlike the Dollar General or Family Dollar that are near our house in the Poconos, only much, MUCH larger.  

They had a decent grocery section.  Not phenomenal, but good. Prices?  Well you can get Dunkin Donuts bagged coffee at Walmart for less.  The price for pre-cut fruit was decent.  (I got a small container of cut up mango because I LOVE mango, but HATE cutting it and getting it into bits that I can eat.) That said, I would NOT do my regular grocery shopping there.

What I would get there would be household goods that I might need on the go.  (Example, last summer I sent my son to the Target that is quite a distance from us to get a sink strainer.  There's nowhere else in the general vicinity that I would have been able to find such a thing.  For that Target is good.)

I did not check it out, but there is a CVS inside the store.  (What's that going to do for the CVS that's about .10 mile up the block?)  There's also a Starbucks (because you have to have a Starbucks) and an eye care place.  (Don't know if I'd be willing to try that.)

My biggest complaint, besides the parking lot, was the check-out situation.  There are plenty of stations.  Quite a few were staffed.  There are self-check out as well, but I try to avoid that.  However, the lines were longish (though not obnoxiously so) AND it seemed like every customer and cashier was having an issue.  Maybe this is just a kink they need to work out.  (Why wasn't it worked out during the soft opening?) 

Thankfully I did not have too much trouble.  I had 3 items and a coupon which the cashier had no trouble with.  The credit card scanner seemed to have some issues, but I got it on the second go round.  (Two customers ahead of me had more of an issue.)  I grabbed my receipt and went out the door.  (I didn't bring my own bags as you need to do in NJ...I figured I wouldn't really need them.)

Getting out of the lot was just as difficult and challenging as getting in.  As I said, this has always been a difficult lot and that has NOT improved.  Maybe it will?  But probably it won't.

Will I go back?  If there's something urgent I need that I can't find at a store closer by I will.  Otherwise, I will pass.  Target is just target.  Unfortunately, it's nothing special.  There's nothing there that yells out to me: "You 've got to come back because I will have exactly what you want at the right price."

Will it last?  They've invested a good deal of money.  I'm figuring it will last for at least 5 years, but after that, it's anyone's guess.  It's just Target.