Wednesday, November 17, 2010

an identity crisis--no, not mine!

so today . . . i got this email from payless shoes:

Introducing the Payless bath & beauty collections by Unforgettable Moments and zoe&zac!‏

yes, you read that right. payless shoes will now be selling beauty and skin care products.

i am somewhat perplexed by this. i thought this was a shoe store. typically shoe stores sell... well... shoes. when they started selling socks and handbags, i thought, ok, i can kind of see the connection between socks and handbags and shoes. but then they started selling jewelry. and now, beauty products!

i admit that i have occasionally looked at the jewelry. i can't help it. it sparkles. but none of it has come home with me.
and if i need beauty products, i am either going to go to shopping tv or ulta--payless shoes will never be able to compete with their selection. besides, there is just something wrong about buying beauty products in a shoe store!

i think some stores may be experiencing an identity crisis. maybe our current economic situation is fueling this diversification. a few months ago i got a flyer in the mail announcing that target would now be selling food. and not the kind of food they have always had--the snack foods, or the "oh no, we are out of milk" foods, or the"aaaggghhhhh! i'm on my way home from work and need something in a box that i can microwave for dinner and i have to stop at target anyway" kinds of foods. apparently now they are going to carry real food, just like the grocery store.

i know that some wal-marts have been doing this for a while--combining a grocery store with an all-purpose type store. but target?? no! leave my target alone!!

i love target. it is kind of my "go to" store. sadly, it is a well known fact that a person cannot go into a target and come out with only what was on their list. it is impossible! there are just too many choices. and they are genius at store layout. the most direct route from the door to the m&m's leads you right past the clothes. looking for toothpaste? better keep your blinders on or you will end up in cosmetics. socks and underwear? located just across the aisle from shoes--which are temptingly displayed on the ends of the rows. and just when you think you have successfully completed the gauntlet and emerged victorious with only those items on your list, you have to go to a cash register--the purgatory of impulse purchases. dvds, magazines, individual serving sized bags of chips (just sitting there taunting you with their crunchy, salty goodness... "don't feel guilty. just get one bag. your clothes will still fit--yes, those clothes you are buying that you didn't come in here to buy. they will still fit. i promise...") not to mention items from the $1 section, all clamor for a spot on the conveyor belt...

so real grocery store type food in target is going to be a problem for me.

first of all, i am concerned with what will be eliminated from their inventory to make room for this new section. personally, i think they could get rid of all kitchen items--except for toasters. and maybe the men's clothing section. i mean, really. do you know any men who shop at target?? the only men i ever see in there are... ok, i never see any men in there. i think target is sort of a 'girl's only' type store. men are going to buy their electronics online, their clothes at the mall (if you can get them to go!) and, well, do they buy anything else?!?

i guess as long as they don't decrease the electronics department, or women's clothes, shoes, and accessories, i will cope...

one afternoon diandra and i were headed to target for something (i don't know what we were going to get, and it doesn't even matter, because we were going to end up buying different stuff anyway,) and we discovered that those geniuses of store layout had struck again--because the food section was right in front of the doors and across the aisle from the clothes. and it looked pretty good! i thought the food would be priced at convenience store prices, but we were surprised to see that it was about the same as at the grocery store. we wandered through and bought quite a few things that we needed... no really, they were things we needed. unlike some of our target purchases. we got bananas, and hot pockets, and yogurt, and raisins, and lunchables.

ok, mostly diandra bought food. but i looked at what they had and found that i could buy most of my non-costco food items at target now...

...which is going to be an issue. because while it is very convenient for me to go to target, it holds so many more shopping traps than food 4 less.

but who knows. it may be just a matter of time before i can stop off at payless shoes for my groceries. they could make room, by eliminating the jewelry and beauty sections...

3 comments:

mom said...

I don't recall ever seeing a man in Target. Haven't been to Target for a while (mine is not as convenient as yours) so don't know if they have food or not. I love Wal-Mart deli. Because of their fast turnover, the ham and etc is always fresh and delicious. Of course, we don't have a Wal Mart close by either, so I shop when I go to North Bend. Guess all stores are trying to find different ways to make profits. I do admit that a time or two when I have been in Target, I have wished they had more groceries so I wouldn't have to go to the grocery store but then I don't like to go there either. Haven't shopped since you were here this summer except the grocery store. Maybe you will be surprised!!

Carroll said...

Oh Julie! If you only lived in CleElum, there would be no idenity crisis as there's no Target or Walmart or K Mart or any other store. Bummer. I should be so lucky!

Diandra Ann said...

Suzette said that Bed Bath and Beyond is opening a drug store type place. With all the cosmetics and shampoo and stuff like you can get at target. Or wal mart. Or the grocery store. Or CVS...

Maybe all the stores should just combine into one super store.