"Won't You Be My Neighbor"

Cocaine Princess here.

Target has arrived in Canada. I've never stepped foot in one before but I know from the colorful ads on TV it's the store with the Bull Terrier that has a bullseye painted over its' eye. It was announced over a year ago the US retailer would be making its' way up here and during this year's Oscars telecast the Canadian ad for Target made their debut. And right away the ad was met with criticism. Why? The commercial is set to Mr. Rogers' theme song 'Won’t You Be My Neighbor.' You can read more about that here.

On Saturday I was at the mall with sister doing a little pre-Easter shopping. I've yet to find a new pair of shoes (my Easter tradition) or in my case a new pair of stilettos for Easter. One of the new locations that Target opened up in happened to be at the mall we were in. Sister wanted to check it out and I myself was curious. Forget the moon landing date! Saturday March 23rd 2013 will go down in history for it was on that day the Colombian Princess stepped foot inside Target. The store was jammed pack. "Oh boy this is going to be fun," I muttered. Upon entering the store this sign was on display:

And this:

Sister grabbed a cart. "What's that?" I asked. "It's called a shopping cart, darling. It's a marvelous invention, look it even has wheels," she replied. "Customers put whatever items they wish to buy into their cart rather than carry them in their hands." Ha-ha very funny! I was laughing so hard I nearly fell to the ground. "That's not what I meant," I said back. What I meant to say was, what was she doing with the cart. "I thought we were here to browse?" "We are but you never know," she answered.

Most of the customers I noticed in the store had that "deer caught in the headlight" look while others stood scratching their heads. I don't know if it was because they didn't pick up a map and were lost or just plain confused but they just stood there with their shopping carts creating a human traffic jam in the health and beauty department. We couldn't move forward and we couldn't reverse because there were several people behind us. The elderly woman in the grey hair and brown overcoat said, 'Don't worry, I don't know what I'm doing either. I'm just following the crowd." As we tried to free ourselves I heard customers complain not just about the lack of products and empty shelves but the lack of US products. When it was first announced Target was arriving here not everyone was happy. The true patriots of the Great White North made a bunch of noise and were against having a US retailer coming to Canada. Personally I could care less. Don't get me wrong I consider myself patriotic but when it comes to these matters I say let them come here. More than half our restaurants are American franchises and 99.9% of the TV shows I watch are American so what difference does it make if a giant US retailer arrives in the land of maple syrup? Sears and Wal-Mart have already made their Canadian invasion so what's one more? Anyways, this got me thinking? Hmm, could a specific product that I love and only sold in the great USA finally be for sale here? Those who know me well must know what I'm talking about, right? I consulted the map, located the food department and as soon as we were able to break free from the human traffic jam that’s where we proceeded next.

"I don't see it anywhere on the shelf, darling." said sister. "Keep looking," I replied.

In case you haven't already guessed it I was looking for my beloved Cookie Crisp cereal.  My Latin heart was beyond crushed when I was informed by an extremely cheerful employee in a red sweater that the store doesn't carry it. And if that wasn't bad enough they didn't carry square waffles either! Target only sells the round kind.

As we continued browsing in the food area my sweet tooth spotted a Dufflet cake. Oh my, if you haven't had a Dufflet cake you don't know what you're missing. Before the only place you could find these sinful cakes was in the city at their bakery.

Accessories Department: 

They weren't joking about the shelves being empty. (Talk about messy)

Electronics Department:

This CD of course caught my eye.

Ladies Wear:

OMG a set bras for $29.00?!?! Good grief I pay $45+ for one at La Senza and Target is selling 2 for under $30?! It's hard to say why only one remained hanging on the rack. It could have been because women saw this as a good deal and this was the last one available or perhaps Target was selling just the one.

 

I thought this peacock print bikini was really cute but they were only selling the top and not the matching bottoms. Why did Target bother to open their stores if their merchandise wasn't fully stocked? I suppose I could have bought the bikini top to wear at a semi-nude beach but decided not to.

Checkout:

At the checkout counter sister opted for the reusable bag. Thank God we had that shopping cart because I might have pulled a muscle lugging around that cake.

Total money spent at Target: $8.11. We saved a whole 2 bucks!

Other than Target selling Dufflet cakes I really didn't see what the big fuss was about yet the other day at a Target grand opening in the city several Hollywood celebs made a red carpet appearance including actresses Sarah Jessica Parker and Blake Lively. I don't know what's more funnier? Target expecting us to believe Hollywood celebs shop at Target or that the grand opening made  England's Daily Mail.

The reviews I've been reading are mixed. Many shoppers are complaining the prices are higher for similar items that sell at the US Target and would rather drive across the border because the selection of items are better, while others were happy to see Canadian products being sold in a major American retailer. My opinion? I'm still fuming at why Cookie Crisp Cereal isn't available up here.

By the way, the devil's raspberry cake was simply delish!

****

My loyal and dear readers, it's finally (Good) Friday!

Whatever your plans are have an awesome long weekend. Hop Hop!! ~x

XOXOXOXO,

Cocaine Princess