Sneaks Wide World 53: Bullseye Edition
Welcome to this edition of Sneaks Wide World of Blogging.
This series is dedicated to the proposition that Blogging is a prime example of the saying "Variety is the Spice of Life".
Let's get to the good stuff! ;-D
This edition is dedicated to that Shopping Experience you know you love, openly, or secretly.... Walmart TARGET!!
As regular readers know I worked as a Cashier at 3 Targets from 2002 to 2004, and mostly enjoyed the experience.
A "BEST OF" of my Target related posts, in Chronological order: Let this serve as an insider introduction before I introduce you to a couple of wonderful Blogs I just discovered, and added to the sidebar.
1. NEW JOB: DAY 1. ( Eagle Rock )
2. A Hi Ho the Derrie-O, a Training I Will Go!
3. It Was an Interesting Week at Work.
4. Today is the RUNNING OF THE GUESTS AT TARGET, otherwise known as our GRAND OPENING. :-)
While there are no BULLS, lots of crap will be strewn about the ground by closing time, you can count on it. ;-D
I have this vision of our morning cashiers, faced with this mad mob of humanity bursting thru the doors at 8 am, running, screaming for the Employee Exit, only to find it locked and blocked by Security. ;-D
A TARGET GRAND OPENING: I Survived a Target Grand Opening and all I got was a coke, a bag of chips, and a twinkie!!!
5. Retail Learning Experience.
A Work hours increase, a favorable evaluation, an eventual raise, and a transfer to Chino, follow....
6. To the well intentioned lady who wanted to pay me for her purchases at work the other day.....I'm sorry ma'am, but we don't accept foreign currency here at Target. ( Full Story. )
7. To the 3 year old boy in the shopping cart in my line at work who was bawling and squaling and generally having a hissy fit .....
8. BLACK FRIDAY:
The happiest day of the year for Retailers.:-)
It's 6:58 am at a certain Target in Southern California...
The mob is primed to move, yet hushed in anticipation, as the clerk opens the door and stands in their path.....
He speaks the magic words.....
Ladies AND Gentlemen!
Start your Credit Cards!!!!
And the annual Running of the Shoppers begins......
Hi Diddley De, It's a Shoppers' Life For Me! -- HIIIII HOOOOO, HI HO, HI HO, IT'S OFF TO SHOP WE GO!
A transfer to Costa Mesa follows a few months later....
9. A WRITING EXERCISE: You spend the majority of your waking time doing it, so why not? Write about your job: What is it like? Are you doing what you want to do?
10. To the young man in my line, at work, who asked me to "remove a shirt":
What do you think this place is?
A Strip Joint? :-D
11. Saying good-bye to working for Target: Including a poem. ;-D
Okay, so it has now been 2 years since I became, once again, just a satisfied, loyal, customer, of Target, and in that time 2 websites have sprung up of interest to shoppers, and even employees of, the store with the big red, and white, Bullseye.
Let's meet those 2 wonderful Blogs!
Slave to Target was born in May 2005, but the 1st 2 months of Blog entrys were apparently lost due to technical difficulties.
The site made such an impression, though, that Forbes Magazine took note, in July, with a piece that serve as a fine introduction:
Who better to blog about the bulls-eye bazaar than two Target addicts, self-described work-at-home moms who "can't go into your [Target] store or shop online without dropping at least $100" and then "hide the stuff in the car and wait for our husbands to fall asleep before we sneak it in the house." These denizens religiously scour Target's retail and online aisles for items from the useful (water purifiers, baby movement sensors) to the fashionable (a pink leather laptop carrier with black-and-white polka-dot interior) to the unusual (carnivorous plants). Though only in existence since May 2005, the blog's comments and feedback reveal the legion of Target fanatics out there.
By July they were back up and running, and posting under the names RedCartRomance ( The Editor ), and RedHotShopper.
WE LOVE TARGET. CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF IT. WANT TO MARRY IT.
Seriously- Slaves To Target hide Target bags from their husbands, we make up excuses to go to Target, we simply feel orgasmic by the thought.
Okaaayyy.... A bit obsessed aren't we ladies? ;-D
Many of the folks, male, and female, who passed through my check-out lane would read the above and say a hearty "Hell, Yeah!!" ;-D
In mostly short entries the Ladies occassionally share their shopping experiences, occasionally get cranky with Target, and post about all the products Target sells that interest them, and include a ton of pictures, and links to the Target Website.
I especially love their enthusiam, and sense of humor.
I do wish they would write more about their shopping excursions, including observations about displays, and encounters with fellows shoppers, or employees.
As my own posts show there is a wealth of blogging material to be had.
My only real issue is that they have not used their Blogger Comment Utility to its fullest advantage to give non-Blogger members the chance to post comments as well.
They are thus, inadvertantly I'm sure, shutting out most of the folks in their audience.
What follows are links to a few of my favorite pieces:
1. A Guide to College Bedding.
2. The Bullseye is better than Mickey Mouse… by a Guest Poster.
4. Strip Chocolate. ( I am shocked that this only has got 1 measely comment! )
5. For those Long Trips. ( This one managed to get 9 Comments. )
6. Stroll with me Baby. [ About the the latest in BUV's ( Baby Utility Vehicles )
7. In the "Where were these things when I was a Tot?" Category we have a winner with "Potty Talk"! ( I need to remember this for when my Nephew turns the right age! )
10. Ticked off at Target.
Good god, I just about wet my panties when I saw this trenchcoat.
A Tip of the Hat to RedCart for sharing the link to this story last month: A Plus Girl Rant on Target.
In March, a Target Blog with a whole different agenda, and perspective was created, and its founders are 2 guys in the Silicon Valley of Northern California:
Target Culture is a blog for people who love Target stores and skeptics interested in understanding why Target lovers think it’s the coolest store on the planet.
Denis ( The Founder ) sees Target as a connecting force in the lives of hundreds of millions of people in America (and Australia!)
Mike ( Joined in May ) wants to spread the word about the charitable impact Target has on its communities. "The company donates millions of dollars each year to charities - the most, as a percentage of income - of any major corporation." He also writes "in praise of Target and in condemnation of its enemies ( 19 posts on Walmart! ), and enjoys social science and research."
They highlight posts from other bloggers they might encounter, encourage input from readers, and even Target employees.
The entries vary in length, and discuss anything, and everything, including shopping excursions.
There are Target links, and links to articles, and other websites, and photos, as required for the post entry.
The writers even criticize Target when they find reason. A nice touch is that readers, including employees of Target, will respond in the comments, and even correct them if needed, and then they will post a correction.
There are Store Finder pages, and a growing Executive Profile page.
As with the Ladies, above, I especially love their enthusiam, and sense of humor.
What follows are links to a few of my favorite pieces:
1. Vermont doesn't have a single Target Store. ( It turns out AK, and HI, don't either. Who Knew! It's a tragedy! )
2. Driving over 300 miles to give Wal-Mart the ‘thumbs down’ was definitely worth it!
3. Target Supports Veterans, is American Owned.
6. Why doesn't Target Sell Fish?
8. Target Australia and Target USA: Unidentical Twins. ( Read the Comments. )
9. Target Shopping Carts are a Drag!
10. Like Greek Herms, Do Red Spheres Demarcate Target Boundaries?
11. "We're Closed"? ( Read the Comments. )
12. Wal-Mart forced its employees to search a store for explosives (After a bomb threat was called in). ( A follow-up to an earlier post, with a link to the original. )
13. Target is not a Big Box Store.
14. Target: "We have a Demographic?"
These 2 Blogs are great fun, and edumicational, too!
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