Why I Love Target

Yesterday I went to Target because I saw that jeans were 70% off and it seemed like a great time to get a couple 'Back-To-School' pairs (I know I'm no longer in school so I don't really need back-to-school clothes...just leave it alone, okay? In my defense, I did actually need jeans).

Of course we all know that it's humanly impossible to walk into Target in search of one thing, and walk out having purchased that one thing.

First, I was set on returning a pair of shoes that my friend Ellen left for me when she went back to Colorado. They were a size too small and I thought I could make them work, but I couldn't. I figured I could return them for a Target gift card since I didn't have the receipt or the card they were purchased with.

The customer service lady scanned them and said the item was 'no longer found' and I couldn't return them because Target couldn't sell them anymore.

I thought that was a little weird because she just bought them last Saturday at a Target in Cedar Rapids before RAGBRAI. 

The customer service lady said she was sorry there was nothing she could do and I said that it was okay even though it wasn't because what was I going to do with a pair of $9 purple shoes in a size 8? Jamie isn't that size, my mom would never wear these, and it just seemed like a very sad waste of a nice Target product. But I'll come back to this later...

When Jamie and I go to Target together, even if it's a five-minute trip, we always 'Take a Lap.' Because who knows what great $5 DVD we might find to put in someone's stocking in five months? Or what $3 candle might work to put with a wedding gift? Or what clearance deodorant we can pick through on the end of an aisle by the pharmacy (btw if you didn't already know this, the ENDS of the aisles are where the sales are at)?

So...always worth taking a lap. For reasons like this: 

I found a pair of lightweight, fun, turquoise pajama pants for $3. 

Awesome.

I turned my attention to the real reason I came to Target and started sifting through all the jeans on the back clearance wall (they were already really picked over for it only being Monday, so I was a little discouraged). After trying on about 10 pairs, I settled on two pairs of skinnies (a dark pair that's going to turn my legs blue for the first couple times I wear them, and a lighter colored, more casual pair). 

Time to check out...the dark pair of jeans rings up at $22. Noooo that's silly, I never pay $22 for an article of clothing at Target...I pointed the price out to the nice cashier and explained that they were folded up on the back wall (not on a hanger or anything) with the rest of the clearance jeans. They were even the same brand as the other on-sale pair I was purchasing at 70% off. 

She said that since it was probably their mistake for putting the jeans back in the wrong place, she would give them to me at the full clearance price...Which was $6! CHEAPER THAN ALL THE OTHER JEANS ON THE ENTIRE CLEARANCE WALL! 

Totally awesome.

Now for my last conquest. The shoes. Those shoes were $8.48 just begging to be turned into a Target card for me to spend on something else. Lucky for me, while I was taking my lap, I found the exact same pair of shoes, (different size and color, same style and price). After checking out, I marched back to the Customer Service counter and showed the lady that I had found a pair of the 'unsellable' shoes being sold in the shoe aisle. 

She said she wasn't sure if it would work, but because there was a clearance price tag on both of the pairs, she ended up being able to give me the refund in the form of a Target gift card.

Totally freaking awesome.

And that's the story of my Target Monday.

MmB

Also...we just bought another house. What?!