a photo exposé - The Ruthless Ravishing of Retail!

two chance trips to "Targét" reveal retail rot's rank remains

the DISS-SPLAY at Targét — no this is NOT a sale rack, an’ this wuz the “nicer” store

Nope, no industrial strength wind machine hit the Target but it sure looks like a veritable TORNADO swept thru the store — golly!

I SWEAR THEY’RE TRYIN’ TO KILL RETAIL…

It so heppened that a few days BEFORE Memorial Day we were runnin’ some errands an’ my younger daughter needed a last-minute sundress fer a picnic she wuz goin’ to so I said sure, we kin take a look (I also needed a plastic tub fer some house junk).

So in we go an the entire places looks a’shambles—clothin’ on the floor, merchandise all mixed up, store all disorganized (cain’t find any sizes fer the life’ve me) so I tell my daughter we’d put off the dress & the tub cuz in a few days more we’ll be right near the “NICER” Target which “SURELY” (thought I) would not be a mess like this one… better neighborhood, more upscale an’ all. Right. (no, not right…)

The other Target wuz just as bad. I now have stepped into an alternate universe. The pick’churs here say it all… have a look-see

IS THIS A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY? I mean this wasn’t done by the “scholars” (aka shoplifters “liberatin’” white man’s burden of merchandise…) THIS WUZ (clearly) STORE POLICY!

An’ STORE POLICY is to fully KILL/MURDER/MAIM & MUTILATE RETAIL cuz WHO WANTS TO SHOP LIKE THIS?! Who’d have the patience?

shoe deep-part-mint an’ notice this is where you’d SIT ta try on stuff…

What I sawr inside both stores made pokin’ ‘round at the Salvation Army (or L-Train Vintage or even Beacons Closet where they chased us out fer not wearin’ masks—all those joints where no two things were ever alike) — a barrel fulla monkeys (an’ a piece of cake to boot!) Most vintage/ resale places we knew (‘fore the move) grouped stuff together by size, type-of-garment— jeans, jackets, pants, ladies v men, etc an’ didn’t have stuff piled up on the floor fer ya ta trip on. Are these vintage / thrift joints NEXT after the chain stores fail? I wonder… Like I said—they’re doin’ their best to KILL retail.

sing of what’s to come? jaw-droppin’ messy, no?

So…. I did NOT take pictures at this first Target I described. I chalked it up to their probably bein’ short staffed—I think, at the time, ok it’s an outlier, maybe the neib, ya know? But when I walk inta the second one an’ see it’s just as much of a hurricane disaster zone—literally as if the contents of the store were all spun ‘round like Dorothy an’ plopped down in Oz—I pull out the camera an’ start snappin’ away. (Nobuddy seems ta even NOTICE the chaos ‘cept me! Zombies!!!!?!)

Seein’ how the SECOND TARGET in the waaay better neib. is just as bad, I wuz (frankly) gobsmacked!

Lookee here what we saw 3 days after memorial day… and again, these are NOT the “sale” displays or even clearance—this is clearly THEIR NEW NORMAL

AND… I’ll let’cha in on an’nuther thing—one week AFTER the 3 days post-Memorial Day (this bein’ inserted as a coda)—so ten days later—it STILL looked like heck, no improvements!

So… check it out—THIS:

and THIS:

pile of purses (with big gulp cup an’ 10 gallon hat)

and THIS:

pet “crap”… just dumped like this!

Folks, I spent part of my early years livin’ next ta a huge Catholic fambly with 17 children an’ no outside help — an’ even their dang BASEMENT didn’t look this messy!

What, did they hire toddlers to STOCK for ‘em? Don’t they sing the “clean up song” there? Buckle yer Miracle Mops an’ prepare for more below!

Now, in spite’a bein’ thrift shop fans an’ cherishers of gently worn hand-me-downs, we always counted on not-too-spendy department stores for stuff like socks, undies, an’ the occasional fun t-shirt. Target/Targét always used ta fit the bill. If ya needed somethin’ non-sartorial — a slotted spoon, a garden pot, a cute gift or art supplies (Target had Todd Oldham’s terrific Kid Made Modern craft kits!) — Target wuz the bullseye.

NOW I couldn’t find ANYTHING! Sizes were all mixed up—in fact alike items were no longer together! Half-filled giant drink cups dotted the shelves (just left there, it seems)—lunch bags shared space with bras, toys with shoes. THIS WAS CHAOS!

toys? towels? squishies? section

wull that went swimmin’ly…

foot—WHERE?

Stuff spread out all over the stained carpet, items askew or fallin’ off shelves, hangers on the floor, things look like they were thrown—nay YEETED—onta the displays. WTF?

It all was so discombobulated I only made a very half-hearted attempt ta find my girl a dress before givin’ up (she wuz in class while I “foraged.”)

THIS kind of impossible experience would PUSH any sane person ONLINE. Of course. That is SURELY their intent.

Frankly, the ONLY time I’d seen such total disregard for organization wuz in the Greenpoint Dollar Store near our old digs in Brooklyn. (Yup, I’ll share some cherce picks from that too)—but that place I thought was just “NewYawk”—I wuz SURE nowhere else on Earth! could’a been so chaotic. That store had NO staff. There were two gum chewin’ cashiers (with attitude!) an’ some fella that mopped the terlets an’ blew up mylar balloons IF ya wanted ta wait like 40 minutes he wuz that slow. That wuz it—sumthin’ fer Ripley’s I thought! (Ya wouldn’t believe it, that’s fer sure).
But TARGET?

TARGET / Targét / Olé! */ Oy Vey:

double dawg dare ya ta find yer size—or any size!

*talk about “bull” fightin’!

So… in that Targét there were very few staff members an’ the few that were there (in body if not in mind) looked like they were sleepwalkin’! a couple seemed ta be pushin’ trollies with “new stock”—the rest just lookin’ lost. The blue haired girl wuz eatin’ cheese puffs from a foil bag while chuckin’ sumthin’ inta the frozen foods section which looked like this:

and….

Mornin’star Corn Fungus Faux Bacon, Deep Fried Shrimp, Mixed Peppers, frozen Fish Sandwiches… TOGETHER!

I’m not sure what section this WUZ—fish filets? fake bacon? bagged beans. Deep fried shrimp. Jimmy Dean sausage. TOGETHER—sort of.

bags of frozen stuff—chickens on the left, berries on the right

NEVER wuz a trip to a department store a chaotic dumpster dive!

Growin’ up my granny took me ta JL Hudson an’ later in NY we had Macy’s, Bloomies, even the May Company — this always meant neat racks, skillful displays, stuff organized by size, sometimes color or even style (boho, job-ready, formal, etc), always carefully folded sweaters an’ jeans, pants crisply hung on “bar” hangers, dresses by style, sales folks (even the mean ones!), an’ often a snack at the cafeteria. But if old skool shoppin’ wuz “work” this kind would be like torture on the chain gang!

The “Garden Section”

A little sparse too…

Okay, this one went from spare to BALD! Nobuddy bothered straightenin’ these rolled rugs—or reorderin’ from all I gather either!

An’ how’ bout it kids, who likes TOYS?

Ok, so we agree they are DESTROYIN’ RETAIL—ruthlessly ravishin’ it—turnin’ yer shoppin’ pleasure into a dumpster-divin’ nightmare and sendin’ ya RUNNIN’ to online “sane” shopping (eventually to be delivered by drone an’ rented to ya cuz you’ll own nothin’ and’ll be happy…). EGADS. This cold NOT BE by accident!

DOMSIES…

Back in the 90’s when we needed costumes for a show we’d all head ta Domsies which wuz a CRAZY outlet in (I think?) Red Hook Brooklyn in some weird warehouse (ya took the industrial elevator to the 2 floors it wuz on). There, you’d literally find DUMPSTERS (giant plastic bins) filled ta the brim with vintage clothing—yet UNWARSHED (smellin’ like BO!) an’ wrinkled (often) an’ in whatever state they got ‘em. Antique stores had “pickers” that would come down ta dig thru the giant lumps of clothin’. The 50’s cocktail dress that would retail for llike $25 (today that’d be like $70!), you’d pick up at Domsies for maybe $4. It all was CHEAP! It all smelled BAD! But even they organized a bit. Ladies dresses bins were not mixed with skirts, pants, tops or “accessories” like aprons. Now goin’ ta Domsies wuz ALWAYS an all day affair. No fittin’ rooms but ya wore a leo an’ tried on in the aisles. We were young, cheap, skinny!, an’ PATIENT to find nifty stuff fer nothin’. Most Americans would NOT wish to have this experience but it’s the one nearest ta what I saw at Target. In 2024. Gawd help us all if retail goes this way!

NOW for your MOMENT OF ZEN: DOLLAR STORE BROOKLYN 2021

Wherein Daisy imagined there would NEVER be any store so devoted ta not givin’ a sh*t (not ‘bout the store, the stock, the customers…anything). I’d takin’ snaps imagin’in’ nobuddy would believe it—in America at least. Who’d a thunk this wuz the harbinger of “thangs” to come?!

I worked retail (in a dress shop) as my after-school job fer all four years of high school an’ I ‘member ALL TOO WELL how important it wuz fer things ta look “just so.” Clothes had ta be folded certain ways, stacked by size. Anything on a hanger could not slip. We’d redo the displays just ta keep ‘em interested. An’ (re-)stocking only happened after closin’ time (never with customers there!) an’ we’d git paid overtime too. Me an’ the other girls would use that “Jiffy Steamer” non-stop for hours (ya’d think we had the Orient Express puffin’ away in the shop’s back room) so notta wrinkle would ever show (not fun on that wool gabardine, I kin tell ya—an’ pleats?! don’t git me started). It wuz some lotta work but the owners took pride in their shop an’ made sure we made ‘em proud. THAT all seems ta be GONE now. Who ever owns Target don’t give a farget. For sure.

I hope I’m wrong ‘bout the FATE of RETAIL, but I figger I’m kerrect. Even if I’m not much of a shopper (not my idear of fun—tho’ I gotta soft spot for old vinyl an’ even older antiques)—I think this is also a sign of the DECAY of AMERIKA that we see this. BRAZENLY, SHAMEFULLY, not hidden, like an unmade bed in a motel. Yuk.

Can y’all IMAGINE bein’ a tourist, comin’ here, an’ seein’ stores lookin’ like this?!

Ha!, an’ I used ta wonder what Europeans thought when they sawr “our” subway in NewYawk (1903 technology still in place hence slow trains with an antiquated signal system, filthy cars, poop, an’ never a dull moment with people goin’ “screamin’ yellow zonkers”—and THAT wuz in the “good ol’ daze” before covid!)… So yup… this is somethin’ ta be ashamed of—but it’s also a durned shame too.

RETAIL is bein’ allowed to ROT an’ the rank remains on “display” make me kinda like a Dr. Seuss character—sad, mad, and definitely “HAD!”

Shoppin’ was once vital to society an’ very much celebrated in song—
SO…. if I cain’t fix the Target (or the sorry state we’re in retail-wise), at least I kin remind us all what we had via a few tunes on the topic (shared below)—with hopes that one day down the road our shekels’ll be worth more an’ our stores won’t look like heck!

Here’s ta buyin’ LOCAL not LOCO!
Daisy

NOW ya kin buy me a cuppa java if ya like, alwayz grateful fer y’all!
https://ko-fi.com/daisymoses

ps. I got mah “tub” but no dress fer my younger gal—thankfully she managed jus’ fine in shorts!

BONUS BEATS!

The Coasters — Shoppin’ for Clothes

Pet Clark on shoppin’ Downtown -

Carnaby Street (where kool English kids always shopped!)

The Clash— Lost in the Supermarket (an’ that wuz back in the day when it wuz organized!)

An’ last but not least Dolly—sellin’ some irony but bein’ a bargain herself!