Today I went in one of Canada's brand-new Target stores. (And just so everyone knows, I'm typing "Target" with the english pronounciation.) Overall I was underwhelmed. The stores seem nice enough, but it hardly seemed worth spending six months remodelling. Really, they just painted everything red and put up new signs. I also didn't understand why they got rid of all Zeller's old shelving; the new Target-approved fixtures are pretty much the same utilitarian-chic.
Target may have set themselves up for disappointment. By making a big production of their entry into the Canadian market, people are expecting more than just a Zellers with better organized shelves. It's bad enough that after month of clearance-level discounts the new Target prices are going to seem pretty high.
One thing's for sure: they aren't expecting men to be a big part of their customer base. Of course, I'm used to getting short shrift in the clothing department, but Target takes it to new levels. The men's shoe shelf is limited to a couple of models of dress shoe, running shoes, deck shoes and Chucks. Zellers gave you whole aisle of second-rate sneakers and loafers. The clothing department is a little better, with a few - admittedly nice-looking - buttoned shirts to go with the jeans and dumb-humour t-shirt rack that seems to be the only thing in the store that survived the take-over unchanged.
So it wasn't too bad, but it wasn't great. Not good enough for me to forgive them for screwing over the Zellers employees, anyway. So now I'm going to start shopping at Wal-M... at Wal-Ma... No, I can't do it: Sears, here I come.
Target may have set themselves up for disappointment. By making a big production of their entry into the Canadian market, people are expecting more than just a Zellers with better organized shelves. It's bad enough that after month of clearance-level discounts the new Target prices are going to seem pretty high.
One thing's for sure: they aren't expecting men to be a big part of their customer base. Of course, I'm used to getting short shrift in the clothing department, but Target takes it to new levels. The men's shoe shelf is limited to a couple of models of dress shoe, running shoes, deck shoes and Chucks. Zellers gave you whole aisle of second-rate sneakers and loafers. The clothing department is a little better, with a few - admittedly nice-looking - buttoned shirts to go with the jeans and dumb-humour t-shirt rack that seems to be the only thing in the store that survived the take-over unchanged.
So it wasn't too bad, but it wasn't great. Not good enough for me to forgive them for screwing over the Zellers employees, anyway. So now I'm going to start shopping at Wal-M... at Wal-Ma... No, I can't do it: Sears, here I come.
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