Hi!! hope y'all enjoy this little dive into the cultural obsession with Target in the US! 1) captions coming asap, sorry for the wait! and 2) I filmed this over a month ago; we had just moved and all I had in this room was this mini coffee table and this plant that was gifted to us. apologies if the sound isn't ideal -- this room was literally empty lmao
Love the video! And as for Walmart, I have had some, um.. experiences there that I have never even come close to have at target. Like needles in bathrooms and pee cups in the isles. Can I even say that in a comment?
In case you didn’t know, your video has a transcript feature (at the bottom of the description). I found it was pretty accurate and a good substitute for captions!
Hi Tiffany! I loved this video! Something else I'd love to see from you is an analysis of attitudes toward the division of money between men and women who date. I've seen an increase of people on tiktok vouching for this idea that men should always be paying in dating contexts + relationship contexts & tying that into another idea of "divine feminine energy". I find it to be a super interesting attitude held by the hetero woman dating community. I also find it super interesting that when we apply this conversation to lgbt couples it suddenly makes absolutely no sense + becomes impossible! I want to know what you think about it!
The stereotype of “women love shopping” really annoys me, considering that historically it was women who needed to buy EVERYTHING for the household. All the food, clothes, cleaning supplies, home decor, toiletries… all the household necessity shopping fell to them. God forbid that women get side tracked and enjoy the shopping experience in the meantime. When you give men a list to go shopping, they fall into the same damn trap. Moreover, if husbands don’t want their wives to “spend all the money” then the men can haul their ass to the store on sale day.
@@benjamindover4337 I have no particular interest in preserving the institution of marriage (I tried it and didn’t like it). I’m not here to pair anyone up or get involved in someone’s pursuit of a spouse. If you don’t want a wife, that is neither my business nor my problem.
@@benjamindover4337 Maybe men should start doing the shopping, then :) And actually become worth marrying for the women who might be interested in finding a suitable husband :)
@@lisechristensen4714 I think you are misunderstanding. Men are not having trouble finding wives. They're just not interested in what American women are offering. So, your demands are not really relevant.
"This speaks to the desperation of women in domestic role." YES, oh this is so true. Speaking from a nearly 60-year old woman who had special needs children and no help, was forced to stay at home because I had no childcare, and husband was burnt out working and supporting a family on his income. Target was my escape and gave me the momentary illusion that a better life was around the corner. In the end, it was an opiate that just numbed the pain. I feel scared for the young tradwives of today who aren't building their own credit and thinking a man will always be there to support them. Burnt out husbands drink too much, die, or as in my case run off to be a ski bum. My kids are grown and luckily living independently and happily (partly due to massive sacrifice) but I still get that little hit of excitement when I enter Target and just smell the Target.
Everyone should take your advice. Women NEED to have their own money. A fantasy of the perfect male provider who will never leave is often a bitter disappointment. Do not gamble with your life. Get money.
@@MaialeenThe problem here is that every dude I know will find a good job, not even in their field if they are a family guy. Women, in contrast, aren’t given good career jobs because moms will get help from their husbands and should only have a part time job because they should take care of kids. Or the women are just not paid as much as men for the same work or are regulated to “women’s fields”. It’s far from equal out there, even now.
When I was in middle school my mom's prescription was switched over to the local Target's pharmacy. First time me and my brother were ever in a Target we were absolutely blown away by how nice it was compared to Walmart. We actually said, out loud btw "Wow Dad! This is where the rich people shop-!" And dad QUICKLY hushed us because we were telling all the fellow shoppers how poor we were 😂
Even as an adult I have thought that you have to be richer to go to target, I still go to Walmart mostly when I probably could go to target, will be switching tho lol.
It's so interesting to see the dialogue about Target because growing up in ultra christian conservative circles, we boycotted target because of their open Pride LGBTQ+ support in the mid-2000s. Heck, my parents still boycott target cause of it's advertising using Gay couples. when I came out and moved out, going to target was a symbol of freedom and acceptance.
Someone in my city posted a video of some girls fighting in a Walmart on a Facebook group for the city and someone commented “this wouldn’t happen at Target” and I think that’s a really good example of the perceived difference between Walmart and target
You should cover Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. I had never stepped into them until I went with my white woman boss when I was younger. The reason why I mentioned it, I had never been in such an atmosphere especially with an attractive blond white woman so people were more willing to help us. It was odd. They probably thought I was her adopted child. Lol.
Trader Joe's is great though! Their products are relatively cheap and many stores are smaller in size which makes it easier to buy what you need and not over-spend. At least in my opinion lol
@@salami7677 mine is a 10 min walk (compared to a regular grocery store next door), which is a perfect little walk and it’s a great experience. Also helps me to not spend too much since I have to carry it back. I’m excited for the flowers as it gets warmer out. The only grocery store I go to without a list.
As a fan of Target, lol, I think what puts them over the edge for me is their furniture selection. It's more affordable than say, West Elm or Restoration Hardware, but is also good enough quality that it won't fall apart after a year. I did buy a dresser from Wal-Mart and it was......basically garbage. I also worked at Wal-Mart as a teen and will forever be traumatized by that experience.
I just got to the section where you talk about it’s “non-Walmartness” and I had to to chime in that as someone from West Virginia, which is incredibly resource reduced and plagued by food deserts, Target doesn’t just ✨feel✨ upper-middle class it actually is. The number 4 employer in our state is Walmart, but the primary grocery provider is often Dollar General. I have an entire class on WV folklore this semester, and we actually were just discussing today how standard WV small talk involves talking about if your town has more than one Dollar General and bragging points if you have a Walmart. A beloved WV past time is literally just walking around Walmart-like that’s what me and my friends did for fun in high school 😂😂 my folklore professor actually referred to a Walmart on Saturday as “town hall." It gets even more nuanced-I think again bc we’re such a resource reduced area-but like we brag about the quality of our grocery stores on a daily basis…like it was a big deal when a city about 20 min from me got a “Gucci Kroger” and I’ve even heard of a “Gucci Dollar General” which was fancy bc it had a fresh produce section! (I sound sarcastic but that genuinely was very exciting for me to find out haha) So like when you mentioned that people don't typically brag about going to Walmart--that's not the case for most of WV; only the "big" (no cities in WV are really that big) and "rich" cities have Targets, Food Lions, and Krogers. I could talk about it more bc it is genuinely such a major part of Appalachian culture I'm sorry I've spammed your twitter and insta too haha I'm just like genuinely really passionate about this; Walmart and Dollar General are such an integral part of the Appalachian experience--for better and worse...
This is exactly my experience growing up in poor rural areas in the Midwest! Walmart was the only and best option when I was young (with dollar stores now moving in as well). There was nothing shameful about Walmart- it’s just the store where you get literally everything. So much so that we called all plastic grocery bags “Walmart bags.” When I moved to a more middle-class suburb area, the love for Target and disdain for Walmart baffled me. I’m so glad to see this video and hear this topic discussed!
In my part of WV, we have two Wal-Marts, and the one we've had since the 90s is considered to be the "ghetto" Wal-Mart so this rings true . We also have a Target, but those they frequent Target also tend to be the types who'd drive all the way to Tyson's Corner for shopping
In the places I've lived, the areas that the Targets were in were always in safer and "nicer" areas than the ones Walmarts were in. When I'm shopping alone as a 21 year old girl, I've gotten harassed and cat-called multiple times at a Walmart but for some reason, never at a Target. Due to that, I usually will shop at Target even though I am a broke college student and it is more budget friendly to go to Walmart. It just got to the point where it wasn't worth the risk anymore. But if I am with someone else, like a male, I will go to Walmart
Even as someone who is male, I relate to feeling more comfortable at Target than at Walmart. It was also a little jarring going from Target that has the big pride display in June to shopping at Walmart the first time I tried going myself and when browsing a shelf, an old lady started conversation with me and at one point asked me "where the world was coming to with everything turning gay now." In my head, I was like "oh, this is a very different place." (I'm not even LGBT, but it still made me quite uncomfortable).
The nearest Target to me is right across the street from the Walmart and it is still wildly different inside. I can't explain it. People don't always come to Walmart with their best behavior.
I personally use target as an Amazon replacement - the free curbside pickup is nice (especially in a pandemic), free shipping for the items they might not have in stock, it's right by where I live, and while employee treatment isn't perfect, its many times better than Walmart and Amazon so it's the lesser of evils while still fitting into my budget
Target was generally higher quality when we used to have it in Canada, at least with clothing. But the store Target took over in Canada, Zellers, had a more loyal group because it was Canadian and Walmart was from the US, so supporting more local people seemed like a better idea, but price did a play a role in who shopped where. I guess the nostalgia of it is why I like going to Superstore in Canada, because they used to give out free bakery cookies to kids, and I have good memories of those.
My town only had Target for one year before it left Canada and I remember walking in so confused. I don’t know what I was expecting but since Americans seemed to love it so much I was imagining it would be amazing! It just felt like any other store.
I worked at Target as a cashier for a few months last year. I can absolutely attest to the fact that people go in with the intention of buying a couple items and end up buying $200+ worth of items. I’ve had guests tell me this as I was ringing their stuff up.
As a Canadian girl who grew up watching Bethany Mota, I wanted so badly to be able to shop at target. When we would go to the US. I always made sure to go and it was awesome (especially the clothes). But when they opened in Canada, the vibe was just so different, it just felt like an empty and boring walmart. And then they just closed. Target in canada was like a weird fever dream haha
The moment you mentioned City Target (which I had never heard of) it made me think of Monoprix in France. Their branding and what they carry is quite similar, and they even have Monop' which is basically a smaller version of the full thing.
23:36 Thank you for bringing up Target's labor practices. I worked there from 2016-2017, and the amount of anti-union propaganda there is astounding. The work environment was largely abusive as well. Management would be encouraged to run a skeleton crew, and if you were sick, they screamed at you over the phone to try and get you to come in. I worked at the Target cafe, and I would call off when I was sick because I didn't want the people eating the food I made to get sick. I didn't budge when the managers would yell for me to come in anyway. I was fortunate enough to be in college and living with my parents, so I knew I could quit at any time. Most of my coworkers were middle-aged working women who needed their job to sustain themselves and their kids. Some of my co-workers were college students too. Almost everyone was on food stamps. It was my job to throw away food that would expire the day after my shift ended, and I would sneak the food to my coworkers because they were hungry =(
I think that is very subjective to the store you were working at, I've worked at two stores myself and i currently like the store I'm at than my previous store, but neither of my stores were that bad, but I've also had friends that have worked at other stores and they hated it there. It really depends on who is in charge of each store and who all of your managers are. 🤷♀ but I've also been working for target since 2019 so work environments may have changed and Target is one of the only companies that actively offers benefits for its part-time employees.
@@elliemarie4588 This is not just Target. Many retail stores don't give a shit about there employees or starving people. If you found a retail store with leadership that actually cares about the people who work there, you hit the work culture lottery.... and really? Your actually mentioning part time benefits, invalidating the experience of someone who worked there, to offset the stores abusive and wasteful practices for the sake of profit? Sounds like something my old retail manager would say. Corporate Shill.
I really related to what you said about a trip to Target being like a trip to a small mall. That's so true. I have one near my house, and sometimes I go and just chill for a bit. Try on some cute clothes. Read the backs of some books. Touch some soft pillows. Buy a snack. The mall in my town over the years has grown increasingly boogie and almost nothing there is affordable to me except the Macy's sale section, and Forever 21 styles for the last couple years just don't work for me.
Oh, that's interesting. Perhaps as malls are dying thanks largely due to online shopping (and Covid didn't help either), stores like Target are sort of filling part of the spot that used to mainly be filled by malls: places you go to shop that look nice, have a certain comfortable atmosphere, and hang out while shopping or just looking around.
As someone from the U.K this is very fascinating! When I visited the U.S its why Target was one of the places on my tourist list aha. The only similar places this reminded me of is Sainsburys and TK Maxx (which isnt a supermarket but), which would feel very unhinged for them to have loyal followings at this level aha. I also think it draws upon a bigger difference, is that in the U.K I can go to various stores and supermarkets near by, either by walking, or a short bus or train journey. Its very common to do so here, the idea of a 'one-stop' shop, while convenient is just not necessary here.
Walmart is wayyyyy too overstimulating for me. Its loud and messy and crowded, (at least all the ones near me are) Target is just so much more peaceful, i don't know how they do it, But it works.
Great video. In Canada we briefly had target for a few years in the early 2010’s - their purchase of many Zellers stores, rapid expansion and sudden exit really screwed over A LOT of Canadian workers.
I appreciate target and it’s “vibe” and “aesthetic”, but it still feels so expensive. I make an okay means for money after bills, but I still feel like I can’t even afford to shop there. I never go to buy anything from target. Walmart is cheaper. I prefer Kroger’s. $15-$30 a piece is too much to spend on clothes for me personally. I don’t like finding a cute and trendy top and I look at the price and it’s $25. I have such a hard time finding pieces I like at an affordable price. The food is just overpriced and make you feel ✨lush✨and better about yourself. Tbh target makes me feel worse about myself.
i LOVE kroger! the employees are so nice and i love the neighborhood vibe you get when you walk in. they really make an effort to localize their stores and make it feel less like a chain. i also like meijer but only for groceries.
Most Walmarts I go into are dirty, have beeping cameras and continuous music interrupted by ads. Boxed stuff right in the middle of the aisle. Employees are invisible and sometimes you are forced to use self checkout with no one to ask questions too. Target, in contrast, is clean, no music or ads and I can find an employee to answer a question. 9:51 Angela as a mom figure? Have you watched The Office? 😊
I grew up in the midwest, and walmart was our primary store, but when I moved to the west coast, Target became my primary store because the produce in general looked fresher and was rotated more than Walmart. Also, the walmarts were located in more dense areas which made navigation in/out more difficult. One bonus I will give target - in early 2021 had to temporarily move back to the midwest to take care of a family member with cancer (this was before any non-medical people had been cleared for vaccines). The only place truly enforcing the masks was target. I appreciated that.
Current target employee honestly working here kinda feels like living with abusive narcissistic parents like in the media they’ll be like we gave our employees a 200 dollar bonus but won’t say it was taxed to hell so most of us took home an extra 80 dollars lol also they raised how much we get paid but the hours aren’t the same
Hello ! Thank you so much for this video, I’m a French girl watching lots of American vlogs and I never understood the obsession with target. Often used as a subject of one’s vlog. So thx for the clarity, makes more sense to me now !
I just want to say that like 10 years ago targets clothes were seriously lacking. Most of it didn’t fit well if you weren’t thin with no curves and the quality wasn’t great. They’ve made a lot of changes and it’s gotten way better since then but that’s probably why people get surprised at the quality now
loving all the lore behind snl's Target Lady sketches! i feel i understand her more now lol all jokes aside i'm european and i appreciate this analysis also because these corporations and shopping trends have been slowly penetrating among our "old" shopping habits and i definitely see the impact especially in the land: in the past five years in my area two massive supershops have been built on green areas and it's really disheartening to see. I'm 25 and when i was young "malls" didn't exist over here (except for in the outskirts of very big cities) and "going to the mall" on the weekend wasn't a thing as it is now.
So weird to me because as a Canadian people would always talk about going to target whenever they visited the states. But when it moved here, it failed within a year :/
As a French, I find this very interesting because the footage of the inside of the target stores seems very similar to a regular french supermarket like Intermarché or Carrefour. But the demographic of these shops are more like Walmart.
I thought I would click on this because I’ve been working at target for almost 5 years! This is a great informative video and you researched it really well. I would add though at my target the support for inclusion and diversity along with new trainings against racism really surprised me. When I first started working there it wasn’t that diverse but now it feels so much more inclusive! I really feel good about where I work for the most part but sometimes the wage stuff is not great and it low key pressures the workers into getting a target card from them and encourages the workers to shop there as well. Overall good video ~
Thanks for this comment, Melissa! It's always so great to hear about the workers' experience at a company first hand, rather than relying on what the company or media outlets are saying about their DEI efforts.
i worked at target and i got a target card (not the credit card but the debit one) and i actually felt like i was getting a really good deal. the 5% off with the red card/circle app combined with the 15% off employee discount meant i was getting like 20% all my purchases.
This is great! I work at Target and I swear I wonder every day why people do what they do there. A lot of people go in for a couple of things, and leave with a full cart. Some people go and spend hours there, leaving with very little. It’s more than just shopping, it’s going to target. The things I witness can be mind boggling. I appreciate your insight.
this was a really interesting topic to listen to! the stuff at target reminds me of the upper middle class teen youtube girlies of the early to mid 2010s that i grew up watching that i always longed to live like as a kid/early teen, so going to target nowadays kinda feels like i'm living out that dream in some way. i do mostly just browse though because i'm very cautious of overconsumption, but even just being in that environment brings some sort of weird comfort, like almost playing make believe as one of those upper middle class girls i never had the luxury of being.
This! Weird that you say it feels upperclass, but I actually really agree. I can’t afford clothing that’s new for the most part, and even in target, which seems like it’s affordable for most Americans, I walk in feeling boojie like I’m about to get this dopamine hit and I know it, from seeing all the pretty things, but then I actually always feel so poor every time I walk out of one. And amazed that people drop money on so much that feels like a luxury to me. Obviously malls are way worse, but I didn’t expect to feel that way from a target!
If you’d consider making a video on how anyone that is plus size, in between houses, low income, or disabled legitimately can not use the thrift stores anymore, thanks to wealthy kids and depop sellers, that would mean the world!! Hearing in this video that someone had to travel 60+ miles and still couldn’t find clothes reminded me of this second hand predicament. I don’t think people using thrift stores as a way to kill time actually realize that not everyone can just get in a car and drive to a different store if the first one is completely cleared out!
God, this topic is so depressing. I thrifted my whole childhood, and still do as an adult. Seeing a bunch of kids reselling items for huge markups makes me sick.
I find the quality of clothes now is terrible. 10 years ago you could pick up a wool jacket, fully lined skirt, or cotton top. Now it’s just cheap plastic clothes that are being sold for the same amount they’re were new. I’m guessing anything of quality is being put on eBay or professional buyers are getting there first
I do want to say as a former "Team member" for Target. I worked a lot of retail at the end of high school/ start of undergrad. While they treated us like crud, my Target job was better than my Walmart job. Target, as you said, didn't play music. The Walmart I worked had an actual cd with 17 songs on it that played on a loop all summer (got really old, really fast). Target paid over a dollar more an hour. They were more flexible with my school schedule. I worked both Walmart and Target on Black Friday (separate years). Walmart was a horrifying mob of screaming Karens going everywhere. Target actually had controls. They were almost what we would have during the pandemic. People could only walk one way down an aisle, moving through the store in basically the same pattern. When they got to the cashiers, there were 3 managers sorting people into lines. As a cashier, I never stopped working, but there were also never more than 3 people in my line. It was hard, but I never felt unsafe. However, I will say my time at Target was soul-crushing as many retail jobs are. Making a dollar more than Walmart still isn't a living wage. Even with my employee discount, I could not afford to shop at the store where I worked (even for groceries). I was lucky to be a student with parents in the area who supported me at the time, so between my scholarships, loans, and job at Target (plus moving in and out of my parent's home) I never starved. Also, I want to address the scheduling issue. There were frequent glitches in the scheduling software that HR basically refused to fix (I finally got them to admit there were glitches when I walked in with a copy of the schedule showing me working from 2am-9pm in a store that didn't even open until 8 am). They would conveniently lose time off requests to the point where I had to beg coworkers to trade for one of my shifts that was scheduled during a final exam.
I worked at target as a cashier… I ended up quitting as I started to hope I would crash my car or be sick so I wouldn’t have to go into work it was so miserable… I do not have a problem with shopping at target (as it was mostly the guests that got to me although my management was crappy too but that was specific to my store) but every time I walk into that target (or any similar super target for thaf matter) I immediately start to feel stressed again
I like target a lot. I go there primarily for middle-of-the-road kitchenware and shoes, but I also love just walking around and looking at the other stuff (i never buy what isn't on my list, though!) I actually used to work at target part time in college and enjoyed it (coworkers and management were nice and friendly, customers were friendly -- no one every yelled at me or was even passive aggressive), but it probably had to do with my specific location and the fact that I was privileged enough to not be working out of necessity.
Girl believe me, Canadians are obsessed with Target too (at least in my border city we are). We had Target in Canada for a hot minute and it didn't do well enough here to my disdain (mostly because it was not the same as its US counterpart). But many of us have agreed that COVID/border closures have all made us miss Target the most. So the love runs deep here.
what perfect timing of this video!! i’ve been recently getting these suggested posts on instagram about target stock (mostly disney stuff and baby clothes for whatever reason??) and they feel so odd to see and has made me recently think “is there really a ~target culture~ that others actively seek out on social media?” loved the critical analysis of something so normalized here in usa
I live in southwest Austin. There is a Walmart and Target across from each other. I have both Walmart+ and Target Rewards. I use Walmart for gas, groceries and cigarettes, and Target for clothing (they sell Levi's jeans, lots of anime clothing), decor, and miscelaneous. I use either or whenever there's a special promo on new electronics. I mean, why choose between either or... when I can use the best they both have to offer, right?
I'm watching this from Poland and I'm very confused. Target looks like every supermarket we have Lidl, Aldi, Kaufland, Biedronka, etc. Looks like a regular store.
I grew up in Minneapolis a.k.a. target headquarters and there are five targets within a few miles of me - but you have to actually drive for 25 minutes out of your way to get to a walmart
I don't know what's up with the target in the state I went to was but all the clothes were well over 50$. Then again, this was when I was heading back to Canada and so the prices do get higher. For context, this target was in New York state close to the Canadian border.
"people at target are always classy and quiet [compared to walmart], it's a relaxing place to shop" idk, there's a target in the shopping mall by me and every time i go it's always an absolute ZOO (crowded, lots of rambunctious kids, etc.). i don't think i've ever been to a target without wanting to leave as soon as humanly possible lol
I feel like I could write an essay in response to this haha. I worked at Target for 11 years in three different stores in two states. Started pushing carts in the snow and ended as a Team Lead with keys to the store (and a 3:30am start time yikes). I haven't worked there ~7 years, but I still shop there regularly. Maybe once every 1-2 weeks. And if I ever go out of town I generally stop in a Target just to see what they have (even though most stores have the same stuff lol). I have vivid memories of working overnights setting up the designer clothing partnerships (Prabal Gurung, Missoni, Neiman Marcus...) and having a long line of women outside waiting for the store to open to rush in and buy the designer stuff. I'm not above this, as I own a few items from designer collections as well. I also worked on a remodel team and did a complete remodel of a store I worked in. My time working there was hit-or-miss, but overall I enjoyed it as much as you can enjoy working for a multi-billion dollar corporation. I think Target does a good job with trendy clothes, like you mentioned. I love that they have simple Men's T-Shirts for ~ $6 each. I bought a long black peacoat for ~$80 at one, like, 10 years ago and it's still in great condition. And I often snag their $5 bottles of wine haha. I'm impressed with their makeup/skincare section too as they often redo the shelving to look more like a Sephora and bring in new brands. Like you, I don't want to praise them too much because ... corporations and all ... but I am fascinated by this grip Target has on middle class people like you pointed out. Thanks for making this video, your commentary is always a joy to watch.
As someone who lives in a small town I NEVER understood the hype of target, my town has Walmart and a ran down Ross that’s it lol! But even when I’m out of town target feels like another boring store walk, sure they might have something cute just like any other store but if I need stuff I personally would rather go to Walmart . I get LIKING a store but the obsession is still odd to me .
as a target team member (not an employee, a TEAM MEMBER), i have really sort of fallen out of love with target. i'm in fulfillment, so i'm the one running around the store (often literally running) to get all the items for ppl's pickup orders. i work in a super target also, so it's a massive store, i usually average around 20,000 steps per shift. the workload is insane, i've been here for 2 years and it's taken a massive toll on me, physically, emotionally, and mentally. sure, i'm getting $15/hr, but i also only get scheduled for like 2 days a week now, and they won't even be full 8 hr shifts, bc i dared to call out when i wasn't well or had a family emergency. even when i did work "full time", it wasn't actually 40 hrs, they'd schedule me for 39.5 (yes really) so i wouldn't qualify for more benefits. and i can only use my 10% discount with cash, a gift card, or a target redcard (credit card), so most of the time i don't get to use it. anyways, that's my rant lol.
Honestly my family used to shop at Walmart until we moved.. because now the Walmart near us is really bad (dirty, messy, bad produce) so we go to Target now
My experience with Target is really just a sample size of 1, but I would buy sweatpants from Walmart, and would have to buy another pair a few washes later after the fabric has started ripping at the seems. I bought a pair of sweatpants from Target a year ago, and it hasn't ripped yet, although there is some moderate pilling on the fabric. Even though I'm not really a fan of the blocky segmented aesthetic it seems Target clothes have, especially sweatpants and jackets, I do like that I don't have to keep replacing them.
I lived in a big city where there were no big box stores around me, so it was a treat for me to go to Walmart, Target, and even Acme/Stop-and-Shop/Publix. I grew up never realizing this was a thing, they’re just big stores to me.
The last time I remember shopping at a target was when I was like twelve and I was given a two hundred (or maybe one hundred I don’t remember exactly) gift card because my family is low income and I bought a leather jacket for myself that cost about fifty dollars or so. I turned seventeen this year and still wear that leather jacket because it’s one of the only genuinely nice things that I’ve ever bought for myself.
I just stopped going to Walmart when the pandemic hit bc it was *significantly* more crowded than literally any other location. I'm still trying to avoid big crowds, so target is my go-to in a lot of cases. As big as it is it's only half the size of Walmart.
This is so true, and I’m so happy this video popped up on my timeline!!! Just two nights ago I “ran to Target real quick” To buy my youngest son a couple of shirts. AND I WALKED OUTTA THERE 1 1/2 HOURS LATER AND SHORT OF $560! 😂🙄😩
thank you for touching on the perspective of the team members. i worked there for four years right after high school, it's a way different experience for us than the general shopper. i didnt fall into the target hypnosis and probably never will.
I’m more of a Walmart girly 😅 it’s right around the corner from my house, cheaper and a place I can get most of my stuff whether it’s mouth wash, shampoo, food or snacks etc Target is nice but not in my immediate area to be able to go regularly. I do like the cleanliness and vibe though.
I worked at a Target as well, and to my knowledge the store is purposefully set up so that you "engage" with more items and are more likely to buy them (like the idea with IKEA). In my opinion, I think people like Target because the store hones in on psychological cues (like bright lights and aesthetically pleasing planning) to have people spend more time shopping. I worked in style for a bit and we were trained to make the most clothes visible. On top of this, I think of the Magnolia section being purposefully open and homey for people to buy those products. However, I will add that Target is expensive and their products are usually not well made. Yes, their clothes are nice looking at first, but after a few washes they disintegrate or fall apart. Many stores do not have grocery sections, so it makes the place a sort of suburbia department store. With that, they usually have a lot of parenting products to pull in homemakers even further, specifically white women, who typically have the funds and means to go shopping there. In the end, the Target obsession is really strange and somewhat sickening to me because it is a large corporation that does large corp things.
I worked at target for a couple months. I didn’t work fully as a cashier but i was trained on it and picked up shifts and did cashiering when i had breaks from college. They literally instructed us in the training to lean into the impulse buying jokes. I hated it so much but we were expected to joke and encourage customers to keep that quirky overspending mentality when they came in for one thing and left with $200 less instead. Disgusting.
i hate feeling so hyperconsumerist but target has always been a place where my friends and i can spend time together while indulging in things like a cute pair of socks or a new trinket for my shelf. i even went on a target date in hs bc it was a low stakes way to talk but also do an activity, weirdly enough
Great video. I think another pointa out target is that they advertise how much they support pride, black owned businesses, Latino owned businesses, etc. It allows consumers to also feel like they by shipping at target they are making a statement with their ‘dollars’
The walmart in my area is horrendous in terms of cleanliness and upkeep. Im celiac and have to buy gluten free foods and their selection is not only a single shelf on a display but it has also had a bucket next to it for the last 6 years to collect water dripping from the air conditioning unit in the ceiling. The products in that section are regularly ruined. They dont seem to check anything on the shelves either to remove expired or damaged products, the frozen gluten free english muffins i used to buy were regularly covered in mold from being improperly stored or transported :/. It has simply never gotten better. I dont have a lot of disposable income but i do have to grab groceries from target and publix and my local health store now, i just have to really restrict and budget to be able to afford it. The target in my area is also preferable to me personally for grocery shopping because im less likely to get horribly overstimulated there. (Its so much cleaner, quieter and less crowded than the nearby walmart)
also important to note that america is sooo car centric and going to multiple stores in one trip is a HUGE hassle compared to other countries that are more dense
i actually never went inside a target at all until i was in middle school and old enough to notice that my family avoided it… it was just too expensive for us. even now, we only go a few times a year and we just buy a handful of necessities. maybe it’s just nostalgia but i honestly like walmart? also i really hate the “people of walmart” memes. most of those people just genuinely need help and are trying to live their lives. and most people who shop there are regular families. anyway, target is nice for every once in a while but i think seeing so many overpriced things gets old for me pretty quick, no matter how cute they are. i do really appreciate the aesthetics though and i definitely love to walk around on weekends. i’m sure once i start my career and am in a good place financially i’ll probably shop there more often, but i think walmart is just more convenient
I feel crazy because I totally remember target not even offering grocery items until like 5 or 6 years ago, I feel like the addition of produce and other food goods was very very recent, and a big deal. I can remember when the target the next town over was built, and it was so exciting - we went there for clothes mostly as kids. I remember the food court thing used to sell popcorn and it would always smell freshly popped at the entrance... but it seems that with the addition of the grocery section they phased out their hot food (sad because I just missed being old enough to buy food for myself there). My mom also used to shop at target a lot because there was one right next to where she worked, as well as a Costco, so she could pick up everything the family needed at once after work really easily
I think the reason I like target is because it has a very similar layout as Kmart did and maybe it’s nostalgic in that way I’m 25 I grew up going to Kmart I preferred it over Walmart as a kid , so I guess that’s why because it reels like a Kmart
i work at one of their dcs and i just wish they'd switch to using renewable materials to wrap pallets. we throw away so much plastic every day... for the sake of the ~target girlies~
I go to target multiple times a week sometimes just because we need food. I was a cashier there, and the experience was both horrible and traumatizing (from discrimination to verbal abuse from a manager). Once you've worked there, you cant wait to get out of there was fast as possible and you dont get as sucked in, honestly (at least in my experience)
The last place Target expanded to in the US was the northeast. The first one in the greater New York metropolitan area opened near where I live when I was an well into adulthood with at least one child of my own. The New York Times actually reported on it, lol. So it’s definitely not nostalgia for my generation in this region. (We were pretty much Woolworths kids.) But I don’t know a single person that doesn’t like Target. It’s just a really pleasant environment, and there’s always something new to look at. Learning to *not buy* all the things was a bit of a learning curve, for sure.
I am so cheap my boyfriend likes target more than me. Growing up my mom worked at target for about 20 years and we still only shopped in the clearance section with her discount. She quit when they tried to combine her job with another one. Basically paid her a tiny raise to work 2 jobs as if it was one. My mom had so much stress she took it out on us at home.
I just had to pause this mid video to realize I’m wearing an entire outfit from target.. 🫠 that whole target style section in the app, and the Instagram pages devoted to target finds really gets me.
as a non-american this is absolutely the kind of cultural phenomenon i’m interested in learning more about (especially after target’s catastrophic failure at expanding into canada). thank you for yet another fascinating deep dive that i didn’t know i needed
@@kyra6744 they didn't really carry much stock! of anything haha. we were excited but it was a bust 😫 also - i think i remember prices being somewhat higher than expected.
They opened target for a few years and since the prices were too high (i think it was US prices converted to CAD), then ended up closing after a couple of years.
They opened too many stores at once and couldn’t keep up with inventory. I remember the first time going into target in Canada and there was hardly anything on the shelves! So disappointing! Also the prices weren’t that great either.
Target and Ikea to me are associated with new beginnings like any huge life changing event such as moving to college or decorating your first apartment, so whenever I feel like I need to get my life together, a trip to one of the two makes me feel accomplished in a way.
I literally got lost in Target my first 2 times being there - we just don't get stores that big here in Scotland and i needed to ask for directions to find my way out.
@@Hiforest don’t feel bad, I’ve had to do that at a big box store in South Korea. While can be frustrating at the moment, makes for a good laugh in the future.
i can't help but feel like the massive success of target here and the isolating layout of american suburbia *have* to share a common thread here. like would we cherish a one-stop shop as much as we do if we had more small town spaces where every store is right next door to one another? incidentally that's also a part of ikea's design - they don't just buy out the warehouse space, they buy out acres of land around it so it's the only thing you will probably drive out to that day. reject society embrace djungelskog, if you will (edit: turns out the ikea anecdote is also a us-exclusive thing! makes sense given it's not uncommon for essentials to be in the middle of nowhere here in general, but just wanted to acknowledge it
Yess!! I filmed this a few weeks before the suburbs vid but there’s 1000% a connection. I think after people drive 5-10 miles to a big shopping center like a Target they do crave that convenience, but obviously superstore corporations (and Amazon) are killing small businesses. Note to self to try to go out of my way to find some more local spots instead of automatically heading to a superstore!
That's interesting. I'm German and the IKEAs that I have been to always have at least one other store basically right next to it. Maybe the phenomenon you're seeing happens more in the US? Or maybe in Germany it doesn't work with Germany laws, after all our government should be interested in trying to minimize how much people drive around.
@@tiffanyferg 100%, and yet even supporting local is increasingly becoming a privilege in and of itself, as massive corporations are always going to be able to undercut small business prices by a wide margin…anyway, the world is burning, God bless your channel and the well-researched, clearly presented attention you’re bringing to these issues 👏🏼
I worked at Target for 5+ years and the amount of women who would come in and split their total with cash and card was depressing. they did it just to hide the totals from their husbands and it happened constantly. Half of the time they were buying essentials for their kids but still felt the need to hide it all
@@pissip i know you did not just say that it’s due to terrible spending habits……. you really have zero idea what the economy looks like for the working class right now
NO WAY..... have you looked at the price of essentials for living (not even a good life) it’s not cuz of bad spending habits it’s cuz the rich make everything so expensive that the poor can’t even afford to live anymore
We are immigrants to the US and my mum has always been super confused about the way ppl joke about “accidentally” spending $150 at target when they only meant to go in for a couple things. She’s like “how can ppl just afford that and it’s a joke to them?”
It's funny cause those people think they're being relatable when they brag and joke about impulse buying, when all that shows is that they have no self control and are financially irresponsible.
I’ve been on both sides of it. My parents weekly grocery budget when I was a kid was less than my weekly pet care budget. There have been times in my life where I’m waiting for my next paycheck to clear so I can buy dish soap or that I’ve had to ration insulin because of a speeding ticket (I’m still mad about that one because another car was passing me at the time I was pulled over). I can totally see how laughing off a $150 dollar mistake would be unthinkable (how a $150 mismanagement of money could literally be life threatening). For some of these videos I think they are purchases planned for the future that were just moved up because of a good deal on a desired item. I could have made one of those videos when I purchased my kitchen aid mixer. That was a time in my life where I had the least money to throw around. I saw it on sale and I had just been paid so I went for it. In the long run the durability and quality saved me money and I’m still using that mixer 10 years later. I don’t know that it’s fair to label all impulse purchases (even expensive ones) as out of touch and irresponsible
I use target to curb my hyper-consumerist impulses. I get a cart and a coffee. I wander the store and pick up anything and everything that attracts me. While I’m adding things to my cart I ponder each item; what is the utility, what is the quality, is the aesthetic really the best for me, is this the best price or value, where would I put it, if I brought it home what 2 things would I get rid of, etc? At this point I’m roaming the store in random patterns as I put things back. I’m getting exhausted physically and mentally. I usually leave w just the thing I came in for or nothing at all but I’m sated. I’ve “owned” the item for as long as it is useful to me and I’m no longer yearning for the new or novelty.
I have moderate - severe major depressive disorder and anxiety and borderline personality disorder due to genetics and trauma. I suffer from periodic, excess shopping which can be a symptom of each of these. This method has helped me reduce damage from the symptom.
no but i love just walking around and holding an item before putting it away. i subconsciously go thru a lot of these questions, and i do usually feel tired after going shopping even if it's just to one store. for me, i think it's a combo of my anxiety disorder and that my parents grew up poor and instilled strong financial mentality into me
no for real there's so many things I've avoided spending money on because it turned out that i didn't actually want to OWN the item, I just wanted to have it around me for a while!
I actually work at Target, and I'm fascinated by this. I hear "I just came in for one thing" or "I found way more than I came in for" from people (predominantly women) with full carts dozens of times each day. I worked at Target first in San Diego, and now here in Utah, and shopping habits are wildly different, which I've come to think is because of the massive population of stay-at-home moms in this area. To some extent, a Target trip seems like the only entertainment some of these women have on the days they come in (at least based on what they say) and they 100% are the Target moms and wives in their own eyes. It happens frequently where I'm having a difficult time scanning something because of a barcode/system issue, etc., and the women will say, sometimes regarding an item that's $50+, "Oh hey, come to think of it, I actually shouldn't buy that." A twenty second delay is all it takes sometimes to realize they're buying something just to buy it and reconsider. Editing to say: I don't take issue with the trips to target for entertainment for stay-at-home-moms, I take issue with the overconsumption this results in, and also the weird mix of pride/shame that results from the heteronormative roles in this culture like mentioned in the video ("Don't tell dad about this one!" "My husband doesn't need to know about this trip.") I hear this stuff daily and it makes me sad.
from what I have seen of the the 'mommy' bloggers or yotuber vloggers I think you're right. it seems like they use it as a way to get out the house...which is pretty depressing to me. they don't take a nice walk or visit a park, they just go buy fast fashion or crap at target. it seems sad. *edit I meant this more as a social commentary that American work culture has made people so bored or tired or overworked that shopping is an escape and an activity. Not the individual person.
@@noahatlas5240 crazy lead-up, with a ton of calls, but not too bad on launch day. a small line outside the door--all of the bags are gone at this point, but there's a few accessories and quite a few bikinis (lol) left
I work at one in the Mojave desert of California and I 100% agree that they shop as entertainment here. There's like 10 things you can do here and 3 that you can bring your kids to so they don't have many options sadly.
The Target vs. Walmart dynamic is so real - I live in a mid-sized city with both stores and I have been really fighting through my own internalized classism and realize that I can meet my family’s budget needs better by shopping at Walmart, even though we can “afford” to shop at Target. And when I go to Target I do fall into the “came in for 1 thing and spent $137” trap which even further hurts our budget. I’m a stay at home mom and the “mama needs Target!” memes are very prevalent so this video was quite fascinating!
Same in all ways. I’ve found myself at Walmart lately to save some coin. Target gets you literally as you walk in with that dang dollar section. Plus the service is better by far but in the end I prefer to pay less for the same items.
@@Vikrum_ mid-sized in the US would be a couple lakh in population. That’s majority of American cities with national recognition, not counting the exceptional big cities
I usually just go to target for clothes. Walmart is really hit or miss in that department. Usually miss. Something is always off lol. Good for basics though. Tank tops, t-shirts, probably underwear and socks. Most of my necessesties i get from Walmart. Cleaning supplies, toiletries, shower supplies, makeup etc. A lot of that is usually cheaper. If I can't find what I'm looking for style wise if it's like an appliance or decoration, I try target
I’ve caught smack from friends about preferring Walmart to Target throughout my 20s , which is insane to me because we worked at the same place and were all being paid poverty wages. Anyways in recent years (around 2018) I have noticed a significant change in Walmart clothing, home decor, even kitchen and beauty sections. They have some of the same products and even dupes as Target usually cheaper. Kudos to the buyers they hired because I honestly think Walmart’s trendy new offerings are on par with a TJ Maxx or Home Goods where many of these same loyal Target Shoppers go “bargain hunting”. Idk
as a european, i was growing up as a young girl watching all the american „high saturation” youtubers (mylifeaseva, alisha etc.). They were always recording Target hauls (for example school supply) or even just their trips to the store and for me and my friends at the time Target always seemed enormous, amazing and SO american. We honestly were dreamjng about coming to the USA just to visit Target, as if it was a literal attraction.
omg, i come from an Asian country (Singapore to be exact) and me and our friends (even at our current adult age haha!) would jokingly say lets go to America for Target. we loved watching Target haul videos on tiktok/youtube. it was so mindblowing to see how America arranges their commercial spaces bc in my country, we don't ever have a place where it's only ONE store in one place so that's why we were so bizarrely attracted to it.
Also, can we talk about how Targets have PREDOMINANTLY female customers?? I went to Target the other day and counted maybe 5 men. Total. In the whole store. That might be a subconscious reason women prefer shopping there too--less men equals a safer, more comfortable space. I certainly feel way more at ease shopping alone at target than I ever do at literally any other store.
Now that you mention it I do feel safer at Target! I like that the aisles of Target are smaller because it makes me feel like I'm not "on display" as much.
As a man, I never noticed. My go to market is usually Target and I also appreciate how mines have their own department of men’s grooming products. Makes things easier for me.
I haven't seen anyone mention a difference I notice at my local Walmart vs. Target, so I'm going to put it here. When I go to Walmart, way more items are locked up/have anti-theft tags (e.g. $5 charging cables, some shampoos, etc), and some areas of the store (e.g. beauty) have their own separate checkouts that you have to use to buy items in that section. Not only does this make shopping in the store less convenient, it also makes me feel like the company/store assumes I'm a thief just for shopping there. It makes the shopping experience feel generally more hostile compared to Target where less things are locked/tagged. I think a lot of this is probably wrapped up in class prejudice and assumptions about the kinds of people who shop at each store, and it really bothers me. I do still shop at both stores regardless.
I remember going through the toy section and I've seen some boxes or sets either torn open or clearly tampered with and having parts or pieces of a set missing with clear signs of theft. I remember seeing like action figure playsets with one or more of the figures missing, torn/opened packets of trading cards with the pack missing, etc. (My speculation is probably some kid wanted a toy, their parent said no, and so the kid shoplifted.)
It’s quite the opposite in my experience. I feel like Target stores are way more intense on their security measures, just in a way that isn’t so physical. The employees eye you like a hawk and it’s such an uncomfortable experience. Walmart is, to me, less focused on image or experience based consumerism strategies so they just are doing what makes things easier for their own profit. I’m not a corporate whore but I’d much rather have to have something unlocked for me because Walmart wants to be a bit lazier on preventing pilferage than Target that makes me feel like CONSTANTLY being watched. It’s so stressful and I don’t even steal.
This depends in which part of town said Walmart is located. In Austin, this only happens at the Walmart's that are in the east part of Austin. The west side Walmart's don't do this.
It’s not based on assumptions. It’s based on each store’s theft analytics. Walmarts vary from one part of town to another with this type of thing, as do Targets.
really it just depends on the store. i work at target and the one i work at has little to no items spider wrapped because we dont have enough people to focus on multiple things at once in any section. employees in toys and electronics often have lots of tasks to deal with in one day and ultimately security tags end up being an afterthought. we recently implemented tags on clothing too. those are pretty haphazardly thrown on. stores in a more high theft area may care more about security but knowing target its mostly just understaffing when theres nothing wrapped.
I’m a former Target employee, and classism aside (😅) I can tell you why Target feels “classier” compared to Walmart solely due to our training and how we treat our customers (Target says “guests”). For some reason no matter which Walmart you’re at, it always feels like there’s no employees; making the place feel “lawless” in a sense. There’s never anyone to help you, never any lanes open, etc. However at Target, we were trained to engage with guests if they look lost or see if they’ve been helped yet and we even have thing called “make it right for the guest”. That alone elevates the experience because the employees are always on top of EVERYTHING. By no means is this a Target d*ck riding comment lol. I left for a reason and Target is not perfect
It always strikes me as fake though. You invite guests over, you share with and provide for your guests. Target and other stores only welcome people as long as they're there to buy something. That's not a guest, that's a customer and the relationship is not friendly, it's transactional. I'm not saying that wherever we work, we shouldn't be polite and helpful to the people coming in to do business- I think we should strive to be polite and helpful anywhere! But the charade of a corporation putting on the pretense of being anything but a business that cares only about its bottom line is deceitful.
@@thinkfirst1989 I mean if you took yourself to a place that sells things obviously you’re there with the intent to buy something that’s how capitalism works and employees are just doing their job but at Target the employees are just as helpful when someone is returning something or price matching or making a price change if a customer saw a different label (even if they’re wrong) and at least I know I did everything to make sure people got their money back or got the correct price. But I’m from the south so I have hospitality naturally without a corporation telling me to do so. If you feel it’s fake that’s your perspective, like I said it is capitalism after all
I agree! Ex team member here too! Remember the old "can I help you find something" phrase? Honestly the amount of elderly people I helped was amazing. Totally agree, not perfect and I definitely had to quit... But they definitely make shopping there easier compared to other stores
@@thinkfirst1989 The abuse of corporate power happens when bad cultural work practices influence the decisions made in the home. To call it fake when in actuality it is what influences healthy models of communication in a community, is bringing shame to something that should be celebrated and encouraged But this influence also starts with the community coming in to set a higher expectation for how employees engage with guests and vice versa for employees to set a higher expectation for how customers/guests engage with employees as they are often apart of one whole community together : ) Hopefully I worded that okay, this comes from the critical theory of communication in organizations where specialized researchers with a lot of courage call out issues that occur in corporations that impact the community.
I’d love to hear you cover the cult of Costco. My family rarely shops at Target or Walmart but we swear by Costco. I’ve noticed that many of our family friends also prioritize Costco (because we pay membership fees) over other grocery / superstores.
Costco is my nightmares come to life. So bright and loud 😔 with rushing annoyed people zooming past and their kids screaming and crying... I've had 3 full on anxiety attacks at Costco and had to hide out in the bathroom until they passed. Not hating on anyone's love for Costco. Its just not it for me. They do have good churros though (lol).
@@briberrymuffin same. I have so many friends and family who LOVE Costco, but every time I go I get serious anxiety and am exhausted by the time I leave. It's not worth it to me.
Costco is great for bulk buying. I have had negative experiences because my room-mates always pressured me to pool in with them and buy stuff together, and it ended up getting wasted. Also, another negative is that once you get a membership, you feel "locked in" - like now, you will only start buying a limited set of brands and products from costco and feel guilty about shopping elsewhere.
I think 20:55 is something I would tattoo on my forehead if I could. I will never shut up about the fact that if women become interested in something it loses social value, but once men become interested, suddenly it's cool and valuable. Gaming is cool but only games men play. Beatles weren't cool when women loved them, now that 36 year old men are into them suddenly they are. It really extends to all areas not just leisure and entertainment. Growing up I was really encouraged to go into STEM and that's obviously great but when I went to college and was feeling like I wanted to go into graphic design (I was living in the honors dorm) I feel really insecure about transfering into an "art" major because I thought it made me less valuable as a person. All my peers were in engineering or biology and I did lose some respect from some of them. Especially after joining a sorority (I hated it but that's beside the point). I literally had a guy tell me he didn't think I was vapid enough to be interested in that. Like??? And looking back while teachers meant well, they praised me when I used my intellegence to act more like a man. And if I acted like a girl that wasn't priased. Why can't I be a woman, like feminine things, and still be a smart valuable person worthy of praise? I'm really thankful I had people in my life who reminded me that other people's opinions don't matter and I should do what I love because I think I would have stuck with STEM and been MISERABLE.
Oh my gosh, this. I had the very challenging experience of entering college thinking I had to do STEM or else I'd end up like Fantine in Les Miserables. So I was scared into attending university (even though my parents weren't paying for it) and also into STEM. There was a definite fear of winding up homeless and unable to secure my own safety. It's so irrational now looking back. What was worse, was I did okay in AP math and science classes in high school, so I entered college thinking I'd be fine. But then I'd apparently reached my threshold and failed my way through three different STEM majors for three years, and was at a serious risk of not graduating until I switched to humanities. I finished my degree in a year because I for once wasn't stressed, I enjoyed my classes and actually had fun doing the work. And of course I then had to work food service jobs even with a degree. It's all about whether you have support. It wasn't until I got married that I was finally able to breathe and know that having two people as an economic unit instead of one meant that I'd somehow always be okay.
I definitely relate. I went to a high school that valued STEM above all else, at least in the classes I was in (AP science, calculus, etc.). So when I decided in my junior year of high school that I wanted to major in graphic design, I felt sort of insecure because everyone else around me was going into science and math majors. I’m glad I stuck with graphic design because it’s much more aligned with my passions and interests. But it’s true that STEM careers are valued much higher in our culture.
The “target wives” section where you mention that men spend on things they like too, but it’s rarely the butt of a joke… this is so true. Men’s spending decisions are rarely scrutinized, but women’s always are. “Oh me gosh, these women and their expensive purses?! It’s just a bag that holds your stuff. You could just buy a purse at Walmart!” - and the man saying this doesn’t see the irony that he’s wearing a Rolex and driving a corvette. Sexism in online finance content… there’s a video topic right there.
I grew up in a small, rural town in Minnesota where there was both a Walmart (where I worked at as a teen) AND a Target (where my friend worked but closed a couple of years ago) in addition to me growing up extremely Christian and the town being quite religious. There almost seemed to be this Noble Utility in going to Walmart to get the items you needed for your family and saving money on more expensive goods, whereas Target seemed kind of indulgent. I also notice that with the whole “Women be buying all sorts of stuff” includes them buying a bunch of stuff for the house and/or groceries that both husbands/partners/ADHD women like myself don’t notice something’s gone or running low until the *very last* moment. I’d really like to see them go through the $200 shopping trips and break down what was being spent on and see how often the (usually) woman or mom bought something (or somethings) that were worth $50…
I think women's hobbies and consumption habits come under far more scrutiny than men's for two reasons: 1) because feminine habits and products are not taken seriously by society and 2) because there's an outdated assumption that women are spending *men's* money to fund their shopping habit. In the era of stay-at-home moms who never worked, many women didn't have their own money: so if a woman went on a shopping spree, people assumed she was 'wasting' her husband's money (or her father's, if she was unmarried). And even though most women work now, I feel like that stereotype still lives in the back of some people's heads.
I agree that womens habits are seeing differently to men's.. but I did find a bit of a woke jump to label certain pattern behaviour heteronormative.. ok it might be a thing in the trad wife community (their choice anyway) but I witnessed it way too much with my older sister, her friends and parents i worked for ( working or not working mothers) having the WEEKLY habit of overspending every time at target and passing the bills as needs and not wants to their husbands. We dont have to say its ok just because it comes from women. And yes man have their bad habits too but it was not included on the video and maybe it doesnt involve target? Due to health issues im currently home and im grateful my partner financially cares for while i care for the house and us... I always tell him how much im about to spend on what out of respect, the same way he respects my work around the house.
@@crystallewis5902 I agree that womens habits are seeing differently to men's.. but I did find a bit of a woke jump to label certain pattern behaviour heteronormative.. ok it might be a thing in the trad wife community (their choice anyway) but I witnessed it way too much with my older sister, her friends and parents i worked for ( working or not working mothers) having the WEEKLY habit of overspending every time at target and passing the bills as needs and not wants to their husbands. We dont have to say its ok just because it comes from women. And yes man have their bad habits too but it was not included on the video and maybe it doesnt involve target? Due to health issues im currently home and im grateful my partner financially cares for while i care for the house and us... I always tell him how much im about to spend on what out of respect, the same way he respects my work around the house.
I highly doubt a man wearing a Rolex and driving a corvette is going to suggest his woman buy a purse at Walmart. That kind of guy is trying to portray that he is high class and knows brands matter when trying to appear high class.
I think Target has become the societal replacement for Department Stores. It's more comfortable and better organized than a Pennies or a Kohl's, it's more affordable than a Macy's, it's more limited selection makes it a lot more accessible for neurodivergent people who tend to get sensory overload in "traditional" department stores, and it covers a lot of the same categories (clothing, makeup, accessories, shoes, decor, toys, books, electronics, even some appliances) and even expands into everyday essentials (groceries, toiletries, cleaning supplies, pet food)
Yeah, the layout of target is more like a museum, where you walk around and everything is accessible to the eye, and unlike a warehouse, you don't have to physically move things around to see something.
Oh man... I miss Department Stores. Purely for the childhood nostalgia. I miss playing the demos at the PlayStation display while my parents looked for important items they need.
Hi!! hope y'all enjoy this little dive into the cultural obsession with Target in the US! 1) captions coming asap, sorry for the wait! and 2) I filmed this over a month ago; we had just moved and all I had in this room was this mini coffee table and this plant that was gifted to us. apologies if the sound isn't ideal -- this room was literally empty lmao
Love the video! And as for Walmart, I have had some, um.. experiences there that I have never even come close to have at target. Like needles in bathrooms and pee cups in the isles. Can I even say that in a comment?
In case you didn’t know, your video has a transcript feature (at the bottom of the description). I found it was pretty accurate and a good substitute for captions!
Target is worth 105 Billion @24:25
@@kaylanek1 yup! you see every aspect of humanity in walmart hahaha
Hi Tiffany! I loved this video! Something else I'd love to see from you is an analysis of attitudes toward the division of money between men and women who date. I've seen an increase of people on tiktok vouching for this idea that men should always be paying in dating contexts + relationship contexts & tying that into another idea of "divine feminine energy". I find it to be a super interesting attitude held by the hetero woman dating community. I also find it super interesting that when we apply this conversation to lgbt couples it suddenly makes absolutely no sense + becomes impossible! I want to know what you think about it!
The stereotype of “women love shopping” really annoys me, considering that historically it was women who needed to buy EVERYTHING for the household. All the food, clothes, cleaning supplies, home decor, toiletries… all the household necessity shopping fell to them. God forbid that women get side tracked and enjoy the shopping experience in the meantime. When you give men a list to go shopping, they fall into the same damn trap. Moreover, if husbands don’t want their wives to “spend all the money” then the men can haul their ass to the store on sale day.
Your attitude is the reason American women cannot find husbands anymore.
@@benjamindover4337 I have no particular interest in preserving the institution of marriage (I tried it and didn’t like it). I’m not here to pair anyone up or get involved in someone’s pursuit of a spouse. If you don’t want a wife, that is neither my business nor my problem.
@@benjamindover4337 Maybe men should start doing the shopping, then :) And actually become worth marrying for the women who might be interested in finding a suitable husband :)
@@lisechristensen4714 I think you are misunderstanding. Men are not having trouble finding wives. They're just not interested in what American women are offering. So, your demands are not really relevant.
@@benjamindover4337 thank god I'm gay, your idea of straight marriage is more a transaction than a loving relationship lmao
"This speaks to the desperation of women in domestic role." YES, oh this is so true. Speaking from a nearly 60-year old woman who had special needs children and no help, was forced to stay at home because I had no childcare, and husband was burnt out working and supporting a family on his income. Target was my escape and gave me the momentary illusion that a better life was around the corner. In the end, it was an opiate that just numbed the pain. I feel scared for the young tradwives of today who aren't building their own credit and thinking a man will always be there to support them. Burnt out husbands drink too much, die, or as in my case run off to be a ski bum. My kids are grown and luckily living independently and happily (partly due to massive sacrifice) but I still get that little hit of excitement when I enter Target and just smell the Target.
What IS that smell? I know exactly what you’re talking about!
Everyone should take your advice. Women NEED to have their own money. A fantasy of the perfect male provider who will never leave is often a bitter disappointment. Do not gamble with your life. Get money.
Ita like cigarettes. Once you smoke they always smell good
What is a ski bum
@@MaialeenThe problem here is that every dude I know will find a good job, not even in their field if they are a family guy. Women, in contrast, aren’t given good career jobs because moms will get help from their husbands and should only have a part time job because they should take care of kids. Or the women are just not paid as much as men for the same work or are regulated to “women’s fields”. It’s far from equal out there, even now.
When I was in middle school my mom's prescription was switched over to the local Target's pharmacy.
First time me and my brother were ever in a Target we were absolutely blown away by how nice it was compared to Walmart.
We actually said, out loud btw "Wow Dad! This is where the rich people shop-!"
And dad QUICKLY hushed us because we were telling all the fellow shoppers how poor we were 😂
Even as an adult I have thought that you have to be richer to go to target, I still go to Walmart mostly when I probably could go to target, will be switching tho lol.
It's so interesting to see the dialogue about Target because growing up in ultra christian conservative circles, we boycotted target because of their open Pride LGBTQ+ support in the mid-2000s. Heck, my parents still boycott target cause of it's advertising using Gay couples.
when I came out and moved out, going to target was a symbol of freedom and acceptance.
I totally forgot about that
I know people who were upset when Target stopped selling Bibles lol
@@Ziaberry kinda weird target sold them in the first place . the thought of australia selling bibles in target is weird as.
america is so religious its wild.
And remember target allowing customers to use whatever the bathroom they wanted? The Christian Right lost their minds.
Someone in my city posted a video of some girls fighting in a Walmart on a Facebook group for the city and someone commented “this wouldn’t happen at Target” and I think that’s a really good example of the perceived difference between Walmart and target
You should cover Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. I had never stepped into them until I went with my white woman boss when I was younger. The reason why I mentioned it, I had never been in such an atmosphere especially with an attractive blond white woman so people were more willing to help us. It was odd. They probably thought I was her adopted child. Lol.
I’m a white woman and I love Trader Joe’s lol I don’t like Whole Foods though.
Trader Joe's is great though! Their products are relatively cheap and many stores are smaller in size which makes it easier to buy what you need and not over-spend. At least in my opinion lol
@@salami7677 mine is a 10 min walk (compared to a regular grocery store next door), which is a perfect little walk and it’s a great experience. Also helps me to not spend too much since I have to carry it back. I’m excited for the flowers as it gets warmer out. The only grocery store I go to without a list.
Also would be good to discuss too, as I believe it is connected to Trader Joe’s.
Broooo I'm crying 😂 lmao
As a fan of Target, lol, I think what puts them over the edge for me is their furniture selection. It's more affordable than say, West Elm or Restoration Hardware, but is also good enough quality that it won't fall apart after a year. I did buy a dresser from Wal-Mart and it was......basically garbage. I also worked at Wal-Mart as a teen and will forever be traumatized by that experience.
I just got to the section where you talk about it’s “non-Walmartness” and I had to to chime in that as someone from West Virginia, which is incredibly resource reduced and plagued by food deserts, Target doesn’t just ✨feel✨ upper-middle class it actually is. The number 4 employer in our state is Walmart, but the primary grocery provider is often Dollar General. I have an entire class on WV folklore this semester, and we actually were just discussing today how standard WV small talk involves talking about if your town has more than one Dollar General and bragging points if you have a Walmart. A beloved WV past time is literally just walking around Walmart-like that’s what me and my friends did for fun in high school 😂😂 my folklore professor actually referred to a Walmart on Saturday as “town hall."
It gets even more nuanced-I think again bc we’re such a resource reduced area-but like we brag about the quality of our grocery stores on a daily basis…like it was a big deal when a city about 20 min from me got a “Gucci Kroger” and I’ve even heard of a “Gucci Dollar General” which was fancy bc it had a fresh produce section! (I sound sarcastic but that genuinely was very exciting for me to find out haha) So like when you mentioned that people don't typically brag about going to Walmart--that's not the case for most of WV; only the "big" (no cities in WV are really that big) and "rich" cities have Targets, Food Lions, and Krogers.
I could talk about it more bc it is genuinely such a major part of Appalachian culture
I'm sorry I've spammed your twitter and insta too haha I'm just like genuinely really passionate about this; Walmart and Dollar General are such an integral part of the Appalachian experience--for better and worse...
This is fascinating. Thank you for all this info! That WV folklore class sounds so interesting too
This is exactly my experience growing up in poor rural areas in the Midwest! Walmart was the only and best option when I was young (with dollar stores now moving in as well). There was nothing shameful about Walmart- it’s just the store where you get literally everything. So much so that we called all plastic grocery bags “Walmart bags.”
When I moved to a more middle-class suburb area, the love for Target and disdain for Walmart baffled me.
I’m so glad to see this video and hear this topic discussed!
In my part of WV, we have two Wal-Marts, and the one we've had since the 90s is considered to be the "ghetto" Wal-Mart so this rings true . We also have a Target, but those they frequent Target also tend to be the types who'd drive all the way to Tyson's Corner for shopping
I wish I had taken a folklore class about my state! That sounds cool!
In the places I've lived, the areas that the Targets were in were always in safer and "nicer" areas than the ones Walmarts were in. When I'm shopping alone as a 21 year old girl, I've gotten harassed and cat-called multiple times at a Walmart but for some reason, never at a Target. Due to that, I usually will shop at Target even though I am a broke college student and it is more budget friendly to go to Walmart. It just got to the point where it wasn't worth the risk anymore. But if I am with someone else, like a male, I will go to Walmart
Even as someone who is male, I relate to feeling more comfortable at Target than at Walmart. It was also a little jarring going from Target that has the big pride display in June to shopping at Walmart the first time I tried going myself and when browsing a shelf, an old lady started conversation with me and at one point asked me "where the world was coming to with everything turning gay now." In my head, I was like "oh, this is a very different place." (I'm not even LGBT, but it still made me quite uncomfortable).
The nearest Target to me is right across the street from the Walmart and it is still wildly different inside.
I can't explain it. People don't always come to Walmart with their best behavior.
I personally use target as an Amazon replacement - the free curbside pickup is nice (especially in a pandemic), free shipping for the items they might not have in stock, it's right by where I live, and while employee treatment isn't perfect, its many times better than Walmart and Amazon so it's the lesser of evils while still fitting into my budget
Target was generally higher quality when we used to have it in Canada, at least with clothing. But the store Target took over in Canada, Zellers, had a more loyal group because it was Canadian and Walmart was from the US, so supporting more local people seemed like a better idea, but price did a play a role in who shopped where. I guess the nostalgia of it is why I like going to Superstore in Canada, because they used to give out free bakery cookies to kids, and I have good memories of those.
Americans coming to Canada have a little culture shock when they realize that we all go to Walmart even when Target was in Canada for a bit. Wild.
I miss Zellers so much.
And those superstore prices 😶🌫️ very hard to beat
bro, i freaken love superstore!!!
My town only had Target for one year before it left Canada and I remember walking in so confused. I don’t know what I was expecting but since Americans seemed to love it so much I was imagining it would be amazing! It just felt like any other store.
I worked at Target as a cashier for a few months last year. I can absolutely attest to the fact that people go in with the intention of buying a couple items and end up buying $200+ worth of items. I’ve had guests tell me this as I was ringing their stuff up.
As a Canadian girl who grew up watching Bethany Mota, I wanted so badly to be able to shop at target. When we would go to the US. I always made sure to go and it was awesome (especially the clothes). But when they opened in Canada, the vibe was just so different, it just felt like an empty and boring walmart. And then they just closed. Target in canada was like a weird fever dream haha
The moment you mentioned City Target (which I had never heard of) it made me think of Monoprix in France. Their branding and what they carry is quite similar, and they even have Monop' which is basically a smaller version of the full thing.
I loved the little house on the prairie dresses they were carrying. They pair so well with corsets.
23:36 Thank you for bringing up Target's labor practices. I worked there from 2016-2017, and the amount of anti-union propaganda there is astounding. The work environment was largely abusive as well. Management would be encouraged to run a skeleton crew, and if you were sick, they screamed at you over the phone to try and get you to come in. I worked at the Target cafe, and I would call off when I was sick because I didn't want the people eating the food I made to get sick. I didn't budge when the managers would yell for me to come in anyway. I was fortunate enough to be in college and living with my parents, so I knew I could quit at any time. Most of my coworkers were middle-aged working women who needed their job to sustain themselves and their kids. Some of my co-workers were college students too. Almost everyone was on food stamps. It was my job to throw away food that would expire the day after my shift ended, and I would sneak the food to my coworkers because they were hungry =(
I think that is very subjective to the store you were working at, I've worked at two stores myself and i currently like the store I'm at than my previous store, but neither of my stores were that bad, but I've also had friends that have worked at other stores and they hated it there. It really depends on who is in charge of each store and who all of your managers are. 🤷♀ but I've also been working for target since 2019 so work environments may have changed and Target is one of the only companies that actively offers benefits for its part-time employees.
@@elliemarie4588 This is not just Target. Many retail stores don't give a shit about there employees or starving people. If you found a retail store with leadership that actually cares about the people who work there, you hit the work culture lottery.... and really? Your actually mentioning part time benefits, invalidating the experience of someone who worked there, to offset the stores abusive and wasteful practices for the sake of profit? Sounds like something my old retail manager would say. Corporate Shill.
I really related to what you said about a trip to Target being like a trip to a small mall. That's so true. I have one near my house, and sometimes I go and just chill for a bit. Try on some cute clothes. Read the backs of some books. Touch some soft pillows. Buy a snack. The mall in my town over the years has grown increasingly boogie and almost nothing there is affordable to me except the Macy's sale section, and Forever 21 styles for the last couple years just don't work for me.
Oh, that's interesting. Perhaps as malls are dying thanks largely due to online shopping (and Covid didn't help either), stores like Target are sort of filling part of the spot that used to mainly be filled by malls: places you go to shop that look nice, have a certain comfortable atmosphere, and hang out while shopping or just looking around.
As someone from the U.K this is very fascinating! When I visited the U.S its why Target was one of the places on my tourist list aha. The only similar places this reminded me of is Sainsburys and TK Maxx (which isnt a supermarket but), which would feel very unhinged for them to have loyal followings at this level aha.
I also think it draws upon a bigger difference, is that in the U.K I can go to various stores and supermarkets near by, either by walking, or a short bus or train journey. Its very common to do so here, the idea of a 'one-stop' shop, while convenient is just not necessary here.
Walmart is wayyyyy too overstimulating for me. Its loud and messy and crowded, (at least all the ones near me are)
Target is just so much more peaceful, i don't know how they do it, But it works.
Great video. In Canada we briefly had target for a few years in the early 2010’s - their purchase of many Zellers stores, rapid expansion and sudden exit really screwed over A LOT of Canadian workers.
I appreciate target and it’s “vibe” and “aesthetic”, but it still feels so expensive. I make an okay means for money after bills, but I still feel like I can’t even afford to shop there. I never go to buy anything from target. Walmart is cheaper. I prefer Kroger’s. $15-$30 a piece is too much to spend on clothes for me personally. I don’t like finding a cute and trendy top and I look at the price and it’s $25. I have such a hard time finding pieces I like at an affordable price. The food is just overpriced and make you feel ✨lush✨and better about yourself. Tbh target makes me feel worse about myself.
i LOVE kroger! the employees are so nice and i love the neighborhood vibe you get when you walk in. they really make an effort to localize their stores and make it feel less like a chain. i also like meijer but only for groceries.
We only have Targets here in LA so it def gets expensive for me :(
Most Walmarts I go into are dirty, have beeping cameras and continuous music interrupted by ads. Boxed stuff right in the middle of the aisle. Employees are invisible and sometimes you are forced to use self checkout with no one to ask questions too. Target, in contrast, is clean, no music or ads and I can find an employee to answer a question. 9:51 Angela as a mom figure? Have you watched The Office? 😊
I grew up in the midwest, and walmart was our primary store, but when I moved to the west coast, Target became my primary store because the produce in general looked fresher and was rotated more than Walmart. Also, the walmarts were located in more dense areas which made navigation in/out more difficult.
One bonus I will give target - in early 2021 had to temporarily move back to the midwest to take care of a family member with cancer (this was before any non-medical people had been cleared for vaccines). The only place truly enforcing the masks was target. I appreciated that.
I've noticed Walmart's a favorite amongst the anti-masker crowd.
NOT MY TARGET LMAO
moldy produce and bakery items and maskless people coughing on us 🥰
Current target employee honestly working here kinda feels like living with abusive narcissistic parents like in the media they’ll be like we gave our employees a 200 dollar bonus but won’t say it was taxed to hell so most of us took home an extra 80 dollars lol also they raised how much we get paid but the hours aren’t the same
Hello ! Thank you so much for this video, I’m a French girl watching lots of American vlogs and I never understood the obsession with target. Often used as a subject of one’s vlog. So thx for the clarity, makes more sense to me now !
I just want to say that like 10 years ago targets clothes were seriously lacking. Most of it didn’t fit well if you weren’t thin with no curves and the quality wasn’t great. They’ve made a lot of changes and it’s gotten way better since then but that’s probably why people get surprised at the quality now
loving all the lore behind snl's Target Lady sketches! i feel i understand her more now lol
all jokes aside i'm european and i appreciate this analysis also because these corporations and shopping trends have been slowly penetrating among our "old" shopping habits and i definitely see the impact especially in the land: in the past five years in my area two massive supershops have been built on green areas and it's really disheartening to see. I'm 25 and when i was young "malls" didn't exist over here (except for in the outskirts of very big cities) and "going to the mall" on the weekend wasn't a thing as it is now.
So weird to me because as a Canadian people would always talk about going to target whenever they visited the states. But when it moved here, it failed within a year :/
As a French, I find this very interesting because the footage of the inside of the target stores seems very similar to a regular french supermarket like Intermarché or Carrefour. But the demographic of these shops are more like Walmart.
I live in Canada and my mom lives in Haiti, whenever we visit my sister in the US we are so excited to go to Target. Always makes us so happy lol.
The nostaglia note is so crazy! I thought I was the only one who had that weekend Target trip with my mom as a regular activity...
I thought I would click on this because I’ve been working at target for almost 5 years! This is a great informative video and you researched it really well. I would add though at my target the support for inclusion and diversity along with new trainings against racism really surprised me. When I first started working there it wasn’t that diverse but now it feels so much more inclusive! I really feel good about where I work for the most part but sometimes the wage stuff is not great and it low key pressures the workers into getting a target card from them and encourages the workers to shop there as well. Overall good video ~
Thanks for this comment, Melissa! It's always so great to hear about the workers' experience at a company first hand, rather than relying on what the company or media outlets are saying about their DEI efforts.
i worked at target and i got a target card (not the credit card but the debit one) and i actually felt like i was getting a really good deal. the 5% off with the red card/circle app combined with the 15% off employee discount meant i was getting like 20% all my
purchases.
@@saintnicole3209 yeah the debit card I actually agree with especially if you shop there a lot! It does save people money in the long term
I work there too, I was pleasantly surprised by all the inclusivity training as well!
This is great! I work at Target and I swear I wonder every day why people do what they do there. A lot of people go in for a couple of things, and leave with a full cart. Some people go and spend hours there, leaving with very little. It’s more than just shopping, it’s going to target. The things I witness can be mind boggling. I appreciate your insight.
this was a really interesting topic to listen to! the stuff at target reminds me of the upper middle class teen youtube girlies of the early to mid 2010s that i grew up watching that i always longed to live like as a kid/early teen, so going to target nowadays kinda feels like i'm living out that dream in some way. i do mostly just browse though because i'm very cautious of overconsumption, but even just being in that environment brings some sort of weird comfort, like almost playing make believe as one of those upper middle class girls i never had the luxury of being.
This! Weird that you say it feels upperclass, but I actually really agree. I can’t afford clothing that’s new for the most part, and even in target, which seems like it’s affordable for most Americans, I walk in feeling boojie like I’m about to get this dopamine hit and I know it, from seeing all the pretty things, but then I actually always feel so poor every time I walk out of one. And amazed that people drop money on so much that feels like a luxury to me. Obviously malls are way worse, but I didn’t expect to feel that way from a target!
as a Brazilian who always saw people from the United States talk so much about target but never quite understood it, I really appreciate this video
If you’d consider making a video on how anyone that is plus size, in between houses, low income, or disabled legitimately can not use the thrift stores anymore, thanks to wealthy kids and depop sellers, that would mean the world!! Hearing in this video that someone had to travel 60+ miles and still couldn’t find clothes reminded me of this second hand predicament. I don’t think people using thrift stores as a way to kill time actually realize that not everyone can just get in a car and drive to a different store if the first one is completely cleared out!
God, this topic is so depressing. I thrifted my whole childhood, and still do as an adult. Seeing a bunch of kids reselling items for huge markups makes me sick.
I find the quality of clothes now is terrible. 10 years ago you could pick up a wool jacket, fully lined skirt, or cotton top. Now it’s just cheap plastic clothes that are being sold for the same amount they’re were new. I’m guessing anything of quality is being put on eBay or professional buyers are getting there first
I definitely don’t buy groceries at target but I love their clothes, skincare, makeup, etc
I do want to say as a former "Team member" for Target. I worked a lot of retail at the end of high school/ start of undergrad. While they treated us like crud, my Target job was better than my Walmart job. Target, as you said, didn't play music. The Walmart I worked had an actual cd with 17 songs on it that played on a loop all summer (got really old, really fast). Target paid over a dollar more an hour. They were more flexible with my school schedule.
I worked both Walmart and Target on Black Friday (separate years). Walmart was a horrifying mob of screaming Karens going everywhere. Target actually had controls. They were almost what we would have during the pandemic. People could only walk one way down an aisle, moving through the store in basically the same pattern. When they got to the cashiers, there were 3 managers sorting people into lines. As a cashier, I never stopped working, but there were also never more than 3 people in my line. It was hard, but I never felt unsafe.
However, I will say my time at Target was soul-crushing as many retail jobs are. Making a dollar more than Walmart still isn't a living wage. Even with my employee discount, I could not afford to shop at the store where I worked (even for groceries). I was lucky to be a student with parents in the area who supported me at the time, so between my scholarships, loans, and job at Target (plus moving in and out of my parent's home) I never starved.
Also, I want to address the scheduling issue. There were frequent glitches in the scheduling software that HR basically refused to fix (I finally got them to admit there were glitches when I walked in with a copy of the schedule showing me working from 2am-9pm in a store that didn't even open until 8 am). They would conveniently lose time off requests to the point where I had to beg coworkers to trade for one of my shifts that was scheduled during a final exam.
I worked at target as a cashier… I ended up quitting as I started to hope I would crash my car or be sick so I wouldn’t have to go into work it was so miserable… I do not have a problem with shopping at target (as it was mostly the guests that got to me although my management was crappy too but that was specific to my store) but every time I walk into that target (or any similar super target for thaf matter) I immediately start to feel stressed again
I'm mexican and when i go to the US i make sure to visit target. I don't know what it is but target and Ross are stores i can't miss
I love their candles; so much cheaper than BBW, always different ones, and always feels like a nice little ✨treat✨
I like target a lot. I go there primarily for middle-of-the-road kitchenware and shoes, but I also love just walking around and looking at the other stuff (i never buy what isn't on my list, though!) I actually used to work at target part time in college and enjoyed it (coworkers and management were nice and friendly, customers were friendly -- no one every yelled at me or was even passive aggressive), but it probably had to do with my specific location and the fact that I was privileged enough to not be working out of necessity.
Girl believe me, Canadians are obsessed with Target too (at least in my border city we are). We had Target in Canada for a hot minute and it didn't do well enough here to my disdain (mostly because it was not the same as its US counterpart). But many of us have agreed that COVID/border closures have all made us miss Target the most. So the love runs deep here.
Wats ur border city? I live a half hour from washington
i've never heard of the phrase premium mediocre but wow, it is /the/ perfect descriptor for the vibes of target lmao
what perfect timing of this video!! i’ve been recently getting these suggested posts on instagram about target stock (mostly disney stuff and baby clothes for whatever reason??) and they feel so odd to see and has made me recently think “is there really a ~target culture~ that others actively seek out on social media?” loved the critical analysis of something so normalized here in usa
I live in southwest Austin. There is a Walmart and Target across from each other. I have both Walmart+ and Target Rewards. I use Walmart for gas, groceries and cigarettes, and Target for clothing (they sell Levi's jeans, lots of anime clothing), decor, and miscelaneous. I use either or whenever there's a special promo on new electronics.
I mean, why choose between either or... when I can use the best they both have to offer, right?
With the gas prices like they are now, Walmart+ offering five cents off... it pays for itself.
These analysis videos are my favorite! You're doing such a good job with reaserch
I'm watching this from Poland and I'm very confused. Target looks like every supermarket we have Lidl, Aldi, Kaufland, Biedronka, etc. Looks like a regular store.
I grew up in Minneapolis a.k.a. target headquarters and there are five targets within a few miles of me - but you have to actually drive for 25 minutes out of your way to get to a walmart
I don't know what's up with the target in the state I went to was but all the clothes were well over 50$. Then again, this was when I was heading back to Canada and so the prices do get higher. For context, this target was in New York state close to the Canadian border.
"people at target are always classy and quiet [compared to walmart], it's a relaxing place to shop" idk, there's a target in the shopping mall by me and every time i go it's always an absolute ZOO (crowded, lots of rambunctious kids, etc.). i don't think i've ever been to a target without wanting to leave as soon as humanly possible lol
I feel like I could write an essay in response to this haha. I worked at Target for 11 years in three different stores in two states. Started pushing carts in the snow and ended as a Team Lead with keys to the store (and a 3:30am start time yikes). I haven't worked there ~7 years, but I still shop there regularly. Maybe once every 1-2 weeks. And if I ever go out of town I generally stop in a Target just to see what they have (even though most stores have the same stuff lol). I have vivid memories of working overnights setting up the designer clothing partnerships (Prabal Gurung, Missoni, Neiman Marcus...) and having a long line of women outside waiting for the store to open to rush in and buy the designer stuff. I'm not above this, as I own a few items from designer collections as well. I also worked on a remodel team and did a complete remodel of a store I worked in. My time working there was hit-or-miss, but overall I enjoyed it as much as you can enjoy working for a multi-billion dollar corporation. I think Target does a good job with trendy clothes, like you mentioned. I love that they have simple Men's T-Shirts for ~ $6 each. I bought a long black peacoat for ~$80 at one, like, 10 years ago and it's still in great condition. And I often snag their $5 bottles of wine haha. I'm impressed with their makeup/skincare section too as they often redo the shelving to look more like a Sephora and bring in new brands. Like you, I don't want to praise them too much because ... corporations and all ... but I am fascinated by this grip Target has on middle class people like you pointed out. Thanks for making this video, your commentary is always a joy to watch.
As someone who lives in a small town I NEVER understood the hype of target, my town has Walmart and a ran down Ross that’s it lol! But even when I’m out of town target feels like another boring store walk, sure they might have something cute just like any other store but if I need stuff I personally would rather go to Walmart . I get LIKING a store but the obsession is still odd to me .
as a target team member (not an employee, a TEAM MEMBER), i have really sort of fallen out of love with target. i'm in fulfillment, so i'm the one running around the store (often literally running) to get all the items for ppl's pickup orders. i work in a super target also, so it's a massive store, i usually average around 20,000 steps per shift. the workload is insane, i've been here for 2 years and it's taken a massive toll on me, physically, emotionally, and mentally. sure, i'm getting $15/hr, but i also only get scheduled for like 2 days a week now, and they won't even be full 8 hr shifts, bc i dared to call out when i wasn't well or had a family emergency. even when i did work "full time", it wasn't actually 40 hrs, they'd schedule me for 39.5 (yes really) so i wouldn't qualify for more benefits. and i can only use my 10% discount with cash, a gift card, or a target redcard (credit card), so most of the time i don't get to use it. anyways, that's my rant lol.
that eyeshadow looks so great on you!! i love you tiffany the prezzz
Honestly my family used to shop at Walmart until we moved.. because now the Walmart near us is really bad (dirty, messy, bad produce) so we go to Target now
My experience with Target is really just a sample size of 1, but I would buy sweatpants from Walmart, and would have to buy another pair a few washes later after the fabric has started ripping at the seems. I bought a pair of sweatpants from Target a year ago, and it hasn't ripped yet, although there is some moderate pilling on the fabric. Even though I'm not really a fan of the blocky segmented aesthetic it seems Target clothes have, especially sweatpants and jackets, I do like that I don't have to keep replacing them.
I lived in a big city where there were no big box stores around me, so it was a treat for me to go to Walmart, Target, and even Acme/Stop-and-Shop/Publix. I grew up never realizing this was a thing, they’re just big stores to me.
I love hearing Emma say “a savings”.
The last time I remember shopping at a target was when I was like twelve and I was given a two hundred (or maybe one hundred I don’t remember exactly) gift card because my family is low income and I bought a leather jacket for myself that cost about fifty dollars or so. I turned seventeen this year and still wear that leather jacket because it’s one of the only genuinely nice things that I’ve ever bought for myself.
I just stopped going to Walmart when the pandemic hit bc it was *significantly* more crowded than literally any other location. I'm still trying to avoid big crowds, so target is my go-to in a lot of cases. As big as it is it's only half the size of Walmart.
This is so true, and I’m so happy this video popped up on my timeline!!! Just two nights ago I “ran to Target real quick” To buy my youngest son a couple of shirts.
AND I WALKED OUTTA THERE 1 1/2 HOURS LATER AND SHORT OF $560!
😂🙄😩
thank you for touching on the perspective of the team members. i worked there for four years right after high school, it's a way different experience for us than the general shopper. i didnt fall into the target hypnosis and probably never will.
I’m more of a Walmart girly 😅 it’s right around the corner from my house, cheaper and a place I can get most of my stuff whether it’s mouth wash, shampoo, food or snacks etc
Target is nice but not in my immediate area to be able to go regularly. I do like the cleanliness and vibe though.
I worked at a Target as well, and to my knowledge the store is purposefully set up so that you "engage" with more items and are more likely to buy them (like the idea with IKEA). In my opinion, I think people like Target because the store hones in on psychological cues (like bright lights and aesthetically pleasing planning) to have people spend more time shopping. I worked in style for a bit and we were trained to make the most clothes visible. On top of this, I think of the Magnolia section being purposefully open and homey for people to buy those products.
However, I will add that Target is expensive and their products are usually not well made. Yes, their clothes are nice looking at first, but after a few washes they disintegrate or fall apart. Many stores do not have grocery sections, so it makes the place a sort of suburbia department store.
With that, they usually have a lot of parenting products to pull in homemakers even further, specifically white women, who typically have the funds and means to go shopping there. In the end, the Target obsession is really strange and somewhat sickening to me because it is a large corporation that does large corp things.
I worked at target for a couple months. I didn’t work fully as a cashier but i was trained on it and picked up shifts and did cashiering when i had breaks from college. They literally instructed us in the training to lean into the impulse buying jokes. I hated it so much but we were expected to joke and encourage customers to keep that quirky overspending mentality when they came in for one thing and left with $200 less instead. Disgusting.
Incredible analysis! Thank you for your amazing video! You nailed it!
we have a similar phenomenon in the UK but with big Tesco
i hate feeling so hyperconsumerist but target has always been a place where my friends and i can spend time together while indulging in things like a cute pair of socks or a new trinket for my shelf. i even went on a target date in hs bc it was a low stakes way to talk but also do an activity, weirdly enough
Great video. I think another pointa out target is that they advertise how much they support pride, black owned businesses, Latino owned businesses, etc. It allows consumers to also feel like they by shipping at target they are making a statement with their ‘dollars’
The walmart in my area is horrendous in terms of cleanliness and upkeep. Im celiac and have to buy gluten free foods and their selection is not only a single shelf on a display but it has also had a bucket next to it for the last 6 years to collect water dripping from the air conditioning unit in the ceiling. The products in that section are regularly ruined. They dont seem to check anything on the shelves either to remove expired or damaged products, the frozen gluten free english muffins i used to buy were regularly covered in mold from being improperly stored or transported :/. It has simply never gotten better. I dont have a lot of disposable income but i do have to grab groceries from target and publix and my local health store now, i just have to really restrict and budget to be able to afford it. The target in my area is also preferable to me personally for grocery shopping because im less likely to get horribly overstimulated there. (Its so much cleaner, quieter and less crowded than the nearby walmart)
also important to note that america is sooo car centric and going to multiple stores in one trip is a HUGE hassle compared to other countries that are more dense
i actually never went inside a target at all until i was in middle school and old enough to notice that my family avoided it… it was just too expensive for us. even now, we only go a few times a year and we just buy a handful of necessities. maybe it’s just nostalgia but i honestly like walmart? also i really hate the “people of walmart” memes. most of those people just genuinely need help and are trying to live their lives. and most people who shop there are regular families. anyway, target is nice for every once in a while but i think seeing so many overpriced things gets old for me pretty quick, no matter how cute they are. i do really appreciate the aesthetics though and i definitely love to walk around on weekends. i’m sure once i start my career and am in a good place financially i’ll probably shop there more often, but i think walmart is just more convenient
I feel crazy because I totally remember target not even offering grocery items until like 5 or 6 years ago, I feel like the addition of produce and other food goods was very very recent, and a big deal. I can remember when the target the next town over was built, and it was so exciting - we went there for clothes mostly as kids. I remember the food court thing used to sell popcorn and it would always smell freshly popped at the entrance... but it seems that with the addition of the grocery section they phased out their hot food (sad because I just missed being old enough to buy food for myself there). My mom also used to shop at target a lot because there was one right next to where she worked, as well as a Costco, so she could pick up everything the family needed at once after work really easily
I think the reason I like target is because it has a very similar layout as Kmart did and maybe it’s nostalgic in that way I’m 25 I grew up going to Kmart I preferred it over Walmart as a kid , so I guess that’s why because it reels like a Kmart
08:38 So are we gonna talk about the "Baby Narwhal" flavor Icee?
i work at one of their dcs and i just wish they'd switch to using renewable materials to wrap pallets. we throw away so much plastic every day... for the sake of the ~target girlies~
I go to target multiple times a week sometimes just because we need food. I was a cashier there, and the experience was both horrible and traumatizing (from discrimination to verbal abuse from a manager). Once you've worked there, you cant wait to get out of there was fast as possible and you dont get as sucked in, honestly (at least in my experience)
So, so glad you cover this topic!
The last place Target expanded to in the US was the northeast. The first one in the greater New York metropolitan area opened near where I live when I was an well into adulthood with at least one child of my own. The New York Times actually reported on it, lol. So it’s definitely not nostalgia for my generation in this region. (We were pretty much Woolworths kids.) But I don’t know a single person that doesn’t like Target. It’s just a really pleasant environment, and there’s always something new to look at. Learning to *not buy* all the things was a bit of a learning curve, for sure.
I am so cheap my boyfriend likes target more than me. Growing up my mom worked at target for about 20 years and we still only shopped in the clearance section with her discount. She quit when they tried to combine her job with another one. Basically paid her a tiny raise to work 2 jobs as if it was one. My mom had so much stress she took it out on us at home.
I just had to pause this mid video to realize I’m wearing an entire outfit from target.. 🫠 that whole target style section in the app, and the Instagram pages devoted to target finds really gets me.
as a non-american this is absolutely the kind of cultural phenomenon i’m interested in learning more about (especially after target’s catastrophic failure at expanding into canada). thank you for yet another fascinating deep dive that i didn’t know i needed
Just curious, what happened to Target in Canada? I didn't know they expanded, I'm an american in California, perhaps the most Target-obsessed state...
@@kyra6744 they didn't really carry much stock! of anything haha. we were excited but it was a bust 😫 also - i think i remember prices being somewhat higher than expected.
They opened target for a few years and since the prices were too high (i think it was US prices converted to CAD), then ended up closing after a couple of years.
@@kyra6744 they couldn't compete w walmart and had next to nothing in their stores
They opened too many stores at once and couldn’t keep up with inventory. I remember the first time going into target in Canada and there was hardly anything on the shelves! So disappointing! Also the prices weren’t that great either.
Target and Ikea to me are associated with new beginnings like any huge life changing event such as moving to college or decorating your first apartment, so whenever I feel like I need to get my life together, a trip to one of the two makes me feel accomplished in a way.
IKEA!! We need here in OKC!!
I literally got lost in Target my first 2 times being there - we just don't get stores that big here in Scotland and i needed to ask for directions to find my way out.
@@Hiforest don’t feel bad, I’ve had to do that at a big box store in South Korea. While can be frustrating at the moment, makes for a good laugh in the future.
that's kinda sad, idk why
Same!!! I was telling my bf this the other day he prefers target over Walmart so we go there often
i can't help but feel like the massive success of target here and the isolating layout of american suburbia *have* to share a common thread here. like would we cherish a one-stop shop as much as we do if we had more small town spaces where every store is right next door to one another?
incidentally that's also a part of ikea's design - they don't just buy out the warehouse space, they buy out acres of land around it so it's the only thing you will probably drive out to that day. reject society embrace djungelskog, if you will
(edit: turns out the ikea anecdote is also a us-exclusive thing! makes sense given it's not uncommon for essentials to be in the middle of nowhere here in general, but just wanted to acknowledge it
Yess!! I filmed this a few weeks before the suburbs vid but there’s 1000% a connection. I think after people drive 5-10 miles to a big shopping center like a Target they do crave that convenience, but obviously superstore corporations (and Amazon) are killing small businesses. Note to self to try to go out of my way to find some more local spots instead of automatically heading to a superstore!
That's interesting. I'm German and the IKEAs that I have been to always have at least one other store basically right next to it.
Maybe the phenomenon you're seeing happens more in the US? Or maybe in Germany it doesn't work with Germany laws, after all our government should be interested in trying to minimize how much people drive around.
@@tiffanyferg 100%, and yet even supporting local is increasingly becoming a privilege in and of itself, as massive corporations are always going to be able to undercut small business prices by a wide margin…anyway, the world is burning, God bless your channel and the well-researched, clearly presented attention you’re bringing to these issues 👏🏼
I’m in the uk and our local IKEA is in a town centre which is half an hour out of the big city centre! So definitely not true here
The ikea thing must be special to usa because here in turkey they are basically always paired up with many other stores/malls and are pretty central
I worked at Target for 5+ years and the amount of women who would come in and split their total with cash and card was depressing. they did it just to hide the totals from their husbands and it happened constantly. Half of the time they were buying essentials for their kids but still felt the need to hide it all
The average American has credit card debt and is living paycheck to paycheck. Usually because of terrible spending habits
@@pissip i know you did not just say that it’s due to terrible spending habits……. you really have zero idea what the economy looks like for the working class right now
Smh that’s a shame
NO WAY..... have you looked at the price of essentials for living (not even a good life) it’s not cuz of bad spending habits it’s cuz the rich make everything so expensive that the poor can’t even afford to live anymore
We are immigrants to the US and my mum has always been super confused about the way ppl joke about “accidentally” spending $150 at target when they only meant to go in for a couple things. She’s like “how can ppl just afford that and it’s a joke to them?”
It's funny cause those people think they're being relatable when they brag and joke about impulse buying, when all that shows is that they have no self control and are financially irresponsible.
I’ve been on both sides of it. My parents weekly grocery budget when I was a kid was less than my weekly pet care budget. There have been times in my life where I’m waiting for my next paycheck to clear so I can buy dish soap or that I’ve had to ration insulin because of a speeding ticket (I’m still mad about that one because another car was passing me at the time I was pulled over). I can totally see how laughing off a $150 dollar mistake would be unthinkable (how a $150 mismanagement of money could literally be life threatening). For some of these videos I think they are purchases planned for the future that were just moved up because of a good deal on a desired item. I could have made one of those videos when I purchased my kitchen aid mixer. That was a time in my life where I had the least money to throw around. I saw it on sale and I had just been paid so I went for it. In the long run the durability and quality saved me money and I’m still using that mixer 10 years later. I don’t know that it’s fair to label all impulse purchases (even expensive ones) as out of touch and irresponsible
A LOT of americans have consumer credit card debt also. Many people can't actually afford these impulse splurges, unfortunately.
Where are you from because I doubt it is a uniquely American thing
@@KtT-sn8cyCanada has the same problem to a lesser extent, most countries don't
Just look at average household credit card debt by country
I use target to curb my hyper-consumerist impulses. I get a cart and a coffee. I wander the store and pick up anything and everything that attracts me. While I’m adding things to my cart I ponder each item; what is the utility, what is the quality, is the aesthetic really the best for me, is this the best price or value, where would I put it, if I brought it home what 2 things would I get rid of, etc? At this point I’m roaming the store in random patterns as I put things back. I’m getting exhausted physically and mentally. I usually leave w just the thing I came in for or nothing at all but I’m sated. I’ve “owned” the item for as long as it is useful to me and I’m no longer yearning for the new or novelty.
are you okay???
I have moderate - severe major depressive disorder and anxiety and borderline personality disorder due to genetics and trauma. I suffer from periodic, excess shopping which can be a symptom of each of these. This method has helped me reduce damage from the symptom.
@@Petty_Mason I do this too for similar reasons, my therapist says it's a healthy coping mechanism and he was impressed I came up with it
no but i love just walking around and holding an item before putting it away. i subconsciously go thru a lot of these questions, and i do usually feel tired after going shopping even if it's just to one store. for me, i think it's a combo of my anxiety disorder and that my parents grew up poor and instilled strong financial mentality into me
no for real there's so many things I've avoided spending money on because it turned out that i didn't actually want to OWN the item, I just wanted to have it around me for a while!
I actually work at Target, and I'm fascinated by this. I hear "I just came in for one thing" or "I found way more than I came in for" from people (predominantly women) with full carts dozens of times each day. I worked at Target first in San Diego, and now here in Utah, and shopping habits are wildly different, which I've come to think is because of the massive population of stay-at-home moms in this area. To some extent, a Target trip seems like the only entertainment some of these women have on the days they come in (at least based on what they say) and they 100% are the Target moms and wives in their own eyes. It happens frequently where I'm having a difficult time scanning something because of a barcode/system issue, etc., and the women will say, sometimes regarding an item that's $50+, "Oh hey, come to think of it, I actually shouldn't buy that." A twenty second delay is all it takes sometimes to realize they're buying something just to buy it and reconsider.
Editing to say: I don't take issue with the trips to target for entertainment for stay-at-home-moms, I take issue with the overconsumption this results in, and also the weird mix of pride/shame that results from the heteronormative roles in this culture like mentioned in the video ("Don't tell dad about this one!" "My husband doesn't need to know about this trip.") I hear this stuff daily and it makes me sad.
from what I have seen of the the 'mommy' bloggers or yotuber vloggers I think you're right. it seems like they use it as a way to get out the house...which is pretty depressing to me. they don't take a nice walk or visit a park, they just go buy fast fashion or crap at target. it seems sad. *edit I meant this more as a social commentary that American work culture has made people so bored or tired or overworked that shopping is an escape and an activity. Not the individual person.
Yeah Utah mom culture is its own internet analysis LOL.
How did y'all do during the Stoney Clover Lane drop 💀 it was worse than Black Friday for us
@@noahatlas5240 crazy lead-up, with a ton of calls, but not too bad on launch day. a small line outside the door--all of the bags are gone at this point, but there's a few accessories and quite a few bikinis (lol) left
I work at one in the Mojave desert of California and I 100% agree that they shop as entertainment here. There's like 10 things you can do here and 3 that you can bring your kids to so they don't have many options sadly.
The Target vs. Walmart dynamic is so real - I live in a mid-sized city with both stores and I have been really fighting through my own internalized classism and realize that I can meet my family’s budget needs better by shopping at Walmart, even though we can “afford” to shop at Target. And when I go to Target I do fall into the “came in for 1 thing and spent $137” trap which even further hurts our budget. I’m a stay at home mom and the “mama needs Target!” memes are very prevalent so this video was quite fascinating!
Same in all ways. I’ve found myself at Walmart lately to save some coin. Target gets you literally as you walk in with that dang dollar section. Plus the service is better by far but in the end I prefer to pay less for the same items.
@@Vikrum_ mid-sized in the US would be a couple lakh in population. That’s majority of American cities with national recognition, not counting the exceptional big cities
I usually just go to target for clothes. Walmart is really hit or miss in that department. Usually miss. Something is always off lol. Good for basics though. Tank tops, t-shirts, probably underwear and socks.
Most of my necessesties i get from Walmart. Cleaning supplies, toiletries, shower supplies, makeup etc. A lot of that is usually cheaper. If I can't find what I'm looking for style wise if it's like an appliance or decoration, I try target
I’ve caught smack from friends about preferring Walmart to Target throughout my 20s , which is insane to me because we worked at the same place and were all being paid poverty wages. Anyways in recent years (around 2018) I have noticed a significant change in Walmart clothing, home decor, even kitchen and beauty sections. They have some of the same products and even dupes as Target usually cheaper. Kudos to the buyers they hired because I honestly think Walmart’s trendy new offerings are on par with a TJ Maxx or Home Goods where many of these same loyal Target Shoppers go “bargain hunting”. Idk
@@Vikrum_ like 500,000
as a european, i was growing up as a young girl watching all the american „high saturation” youtubers (mylifeaseva, alisha etc.). They were always recording Target hauls (for example school supply) or even just their trips to the store and for me and my friends at the time Target always seemed enormous, amazing and SO american.
We honestly were dreamjng about coming to the USA just to visit Target, as if it was a literal attraction.
YES! The Target Haul era!!!
yes OMG!!! Ironically now i live in australia and our target is pretty similar to what Tiff described and i have no desire to go in there lol
I did this too!
omg, i come from an Asian country (Singapore to be exact) and me and our friends (even at our current adult age haha!) would jokingly say lets go to America for Target. we loved watching Target haul videos on tiktok/youtube. it was so mindblowing to see how America arranges their commercial spaces bc in my country, we don't ever have a place where it's only ONE store in one place so that's why we were so bizarrely attracted to it.
I fantasize about going to the US so I can go shopping at inane stores, too 🤣
Also, can we talk about how Targets have PREDOMINANTLY female customers?? I went to Target the other day and counted maybe 5 men. Total. In the whole store. That might be a subconscious reason women prefer shopping there too--less men equals a safer, more comfortable space. I certainly feel way more at ease shopping alone at target than I ever do at literally any other store.
same! Target feels cleaner and safer than walmart, and since inflation their prices are just as good if not better as well
Now that you mention it I do feel safer at Target! I like that the aisles of Target are smaller because it makes me feel like I'm not "on display" as much.
This is SO true…
i work there, in the clothing department 🥰 mens is so ridiculously slow all the time lol
As a man, I never noticed. My go to market is usually Target and I also appreciate how mines have their own department of men’s grooming products. Makes things easier for me.
I haven't seen anyone mention a difference I notice at my local Walmart vs. Target, so I'm going to put it here. When I go to Walmart, way more items are locked up/have anti-theft tags (e.g. $5 charging cables, some shampoos, etc), and some areas of the store (e.g. beauty) have their own separate checkouts that you have to use to buy items in that section. Not only does this make shopping in the store less convenient, it also makes me feel like the company/store assumes I'm a thief just for shopping there. It makes the shopping experience feel generally more hostile compared to Target where less things are locked/tagged. I think a lot of this is probably wrapped up in class prejudice and assumptions about the kinds of people who shop at each store, and it really bothers me. I do still shop at both stores regardless.
I remember going through the toy section and I've seen some boxes or sets either torn open or clearly tampered with and having parts or pieces of a set missing with clear signs of theft. I remember seeing like action figure playsets with one or more of the figures missing, torn/opened packets of trading cards with the pack missing, etc. (My speculation is probably some kid wanted a toy, their parent said no, and so the kid shoplifted.)
It’s quite the opposite in my experience. I feel like Target stores are way more intense on their security measures, just in a way that isn’t so physical. The employees eye you like a hawk and it’s such an uncomfortable experience. Walmart is, to me, less focused on image or experience based consumerism strategies so they just are doing what makes things easier for their own profit. I’m not a corporate whore but I’d much rather have to have something unlocked for me because Walmart wants to be a bit lazier on preventing pilferage than Target that makes me feel like CONSTANTLY being watched. It’s so stressful and I don’t even steal.
This depends in which part of town said Walmart is located. In Austin, this only happens at the Walmart's that are in the east part of Austin. The west side Walmart's don't do this.
It’s not based on assumptions. It’s based on each store’s theft analytics. Walmarts vary from one part of town to another with this type of thing, as do Targets.
really it just depends on the store. i work at target and the one i work at has little to no items spider wrapped because we dont have enough people to focus on multiple things at once in any section. employees in toys and electronics often have lots of tasks to deal with in one day and ultimately security tags end up being an afterthought. we recently implemented tags on clothing too. those are pretty haphazardly thrown on. stores in a more high theft area may care more about security but knowing target its mostly just understaffing when theres nothing wrapped.
I’m a former Target employee, and classism aside (😅) I can tell you why Target feels “classier” compared to Walmart solely due to our training and how we treat our customers (Target says “guests”). For some reason no matter which Walmart you’re at, it always feels like there’s no employees; making the place feel “lawless” in a sense. There’s never anyone to help you, never any lanes open, etc. However at Target, we were trained to engage with guests if they look lost or see if they’ve been helped yet and we even have thing called “make it right for the guest”. That alone elevates the experience because the employees are always on top of EVERYTHING. By no means is this a Target d*ck riding comment lol. I left for a reason and Target is not perfect
It always strikes me as fake though. You invite guests over, you share with and provide for your guests. Target and other stores only welcome people as long as they're there to buy something. That's not a guest, that's a customer and the relationship is not friendly, it's transactional. I'm not saying that wherever we work, we shouldn't be polite and helpful to the people coming in to do business- I think we should strive to be polite and helpful anywhere! But the charade of a corporation putting on the pretense of being anything but a business that cares only about its bottom line is deceitful.
I agree. Whenever I got to Walmart it feels like the employees hate their life and want to be anywhere other than Walmart
@@thinkfirst1989 I mean if you took yourself to a place that sells things obviously you’re there with the intent to buy something that’s how capitalism works and employees are just doing their job but at Target the employees are just as helpful when someone is returning something or price matching or making a price change if a customer saw a different label (even if they’re wrong) and at least I know I did everything to make sure people got their money back or got the correct price. But I’m from the south so I have hospitality naturally without a corporation telling me to do so. If you feel it’s fake that’s your perspective, like I said it is capitalism after all
I agree! Ex team member here too! Remember the old "can I help you find something" phrase? Honestly the amount of elderly people I helped was amazing. Totally agree, not perfect and I definitely had to quit... But they definitely make shopping there easier compared to other stores
@@thinkfirst1989 The abuse of corporate power happens when bad cultural work practices influence the decisions made in the home. To call it fake when in actuality it is what influences healthy models of communication in a community, is bringing shame to something that should be celebrated and encouraged
But this influence also starts with the community coming in to set a higher expectation for how employees engage with guests and vice versa for employees to set a higher expectation for how customers/guests engage with employees as they are often apart of one whole community together : )
Hopefully I worded that okay, this comes from the critical theory of communication in organizations where specialized researchers with a lot of courage call out issues that occur in corporations that impact the community.
Target and Whole Foods: my two stops when I'm back in the States (and I am STOKED about them every time).
Yesssss!!!!
In Japan I missed Whole Foods and sprouts so much
You should try a Trader Joe’s.
I’d love to hear you cover the cult of Costco. My family rarely shops at Target or Walmart but we swear by Costco. I’ve noticed that many of our family friends also prioritize Costco (because we pay membership fees) over other grocery / superstores.
@@mio8765 lol same
Plus the pizza and churros are really good
Costco is my nightmares come to life. So bright and loud 😔 with rushing annoyed people zooming past and their kids screaming and crying... I've had 3 full on anxiety attacks at Costco and had to hide out in the bathroom until they passed.
Not hating on anyone's love for Costco. Its just not it for me. They do have good churros though (lol).
@@briberrymuffin same. I have so many friends and family who LOVE Costco, but every time I go I get serious anxiety and am exhausted by the time I leave. It's not worth it to me.
@@thecatandrabbit6988 Yeah, I hate that place. Don't even like waiting in the parking lot lol.
Costco is great for bulk buying. I have had negative experiences because my room-mates always pressured me to pool in with them and buy stuff together, and it ended up getting wasted. Also, another negative is that once you get a membership, you feel "locked in" - like now, you will only start buying a limited set of brands and products from costco and feel guilty about shopping elsewhere.
I think 20:55 is something I would tattoo on my forehead if I could. I will never shut up about the fact that if women become interested in something it loses social value, but once men become interested, suddenly it's cool and valuable. Gaming is cool but only games men play. Beatles weren't cool when women loved them, now that 36 year old men are into them suddenly they are. It really extends to all areas not just leisure and entertainment. Growing up I was really encouraged to go into STEM and that's obviously great but when I went to college and was feeling like I wanted to go into graphic design (I was living in the honors dorm) I feel really insecure about transfering into an "art" major because I thought it made me less valuable as a person. All my peers were in engineering or biology and I did lose some respect from some of them. Especially after joining a sorority (I hated it but that's beside the point). I literally had a guy tell me he didn't think I was vapid enough to be interested in that. Like??? And looking back while teachers meant well, they praised me when I used my intellegence to act more like a man. And if I acted like a girl that wasn't priased. Why can't I be a woman, like feminine things, and still be a smart valuable person worthy of praise?
I'm really thankful I had people in my life who reminded me that other people's opinions don't matter and I should do what I love because I think I would have stuck with STEM and been MISERABLE.
Oh my gosh, this. I had the very challenging experience of entering college thinking I had to do STEM or else I'd end up like Fantine in Les Miserables. So I was scared into attending university (even though my parents weren't paying for it) and also into STEM. There was a definite fear of winding up homeless and unable to secure my own safety. It's so irrational now looking back.
What was worse, was I did okay in AP math and science classes in high school, so I entered college thinking I'd be fine. But then I'd apparently reached my threshold and failed my way through three different STEM majors for three years, and was at a serious risk of not graduating until I switched to humanities. I finished my degree in a year because I for once wasn't stressed, I enjoyed my classes and actually had fun doing the work.
And of course I then had to work food service jobs even with a degree. It's all about whether you have support. It wasn't until I got married that I was finally able to breathe and know that having two people as an economic unit instead of one meant that I'd somehow always be okay.
Great points! I agree
couldn't have said it better! and I will never shut up about it as well. I'm with you in this fight for equality ♀️
@@sweetembrace6706 wage gaps or earnings gaps? Iron THAT out before continuing...
I definitely relate. I went to a high school that valued STEM above all else, at least in the classes I was in (AP science, calculus, etc.). So when I decided in my junior year of high school that I wanted to major in graphic design, I felt sort of insecure because everyone else around me was going into science and math majors. I’m glad I stuck with graphic design because it’s much more aligned with my passions and interests. But it’s true that STEM careers are valued much higher in our culture.
The “target wives” section where you mention that men spend on things they like too, but it’s rarely the butt of a joke… this is so true. Men’s spending decisions are rarely scrutinized, but women’s always are.
“Oh me gosh, these women and their expensive purses?! It’s just a bag that holds your stuff. You could just buy a purse at Walmart!” - and the man saying this doesn’t see the irony that he’s wearing a Rolex and driving a corvette.
Sexism in online finance content… there’s a video topic right there.
I grew up in a small, rural town in Minnesota where there was both a Walmart (where I worked at as a teen) AND a Target (where my friend worked but closed a couple of years ago) in addition to me growing up extremely Christian and the town being quite religious.
There almost seemed to be this Noble Utility in going to Walmart to get the items you needed for your family and saving money on more expensive goods, whereas Target seemed kind of indulgent.
I also notice that with the whole “Women be buying all sorts of stuff” includes them buying a bunch of stuff for the house and/or groceries that both husbands/partners/ADHD women like myself don’t notice something’s gone or running low until the *very last* moment.
I’d really like to see them go through the $200 shopping trips and break down what was being spent on and see how often the (usually) woman or mom bought something (or somethings) that were worth $50…
I think women's hobbies and consumption habits come under far more scrutiny than men's for two reasons: 1) because feminine habits and products are not taken seriously by society and 2) because there's an outdated assumption that women are spending *men's* money to fund their shopping habit. In the era of stay-at-home moms who never worked, many women didn't have their own money: so if a woman went on a shopping spree, people assumed she was 'wasting' her husband's money (or her father's, if she was unmarried). And even though most women work now, I feel like that stereotype still lives in the back of some people's heads.
I agree that womens habits are seeing differently to men's.. but I did find a bit of a woke jump to label certain pattern behaviour heteronormative.. ok it might be a thing in the trad wife community (their choice anyway) but I witnessed it way too much with my older sister, her friends and parents i worked for ( working or not working mothers) having the WEEKLY habit of overspending every time at target and passing the bills as needs and not wants to their husbands. We dont have to say its ok just because it comes from women. And yes man have their bad habits too but it was not included on the video and maybe it doesnt involve target? Due to health issues im currently home and im grateful my partner financially cares for while i care for the house and us... I always tell him how much im about to spend on what out of respect, the same way he respects my work around the house.
@@crystallewis5902 I agree that womens habits are seeing differently to men's.. but I did find a bit of a woke jump to label certain pattern behaviour heteronormative.. ok it might be a thing in the trad wife community (their choice anyway) but I witnessed it way too much with my older sister, her friends and parents i worked for ( working or not working mothers) having the WEEKLY habit of overspending every time at target and passing the bills as needs and not wants to their husbands. We dont have to say its ok just because it comes from women. And yes man have their bad habits too but it was not included on the video and maybe it doesnt involve target? Due to health issues im currently home and im grateful my partner financially cares for while i care for the house and us... I always tell him how much im about to spend on what out of respect, the same way he respects my work around the house.
I highly doubt a man wearing a Rolex and driving a corvette is going to suggest his woman buy a purse at Walmart. That kind of guy is trying to portray that he is high class and knows brands matter when trying to appear high class.
I think Target has become the societal replacement for Department Stores. It's more comfortable and better organized than a Pennies or a Kohl's, it's more affordable than a Macy's, it's more limited selection makes it a lot more accessible for neurodivergent people who tend to get sensory overload in "traditional" department stores, and it covers a lot of the same categories (clothing, makeup, accessories, shoes, decor, toys, books, electronics, even some appliances) and even expands into everyday essentials (groceries, toiletries, cleaning supplies, pet food)
This comment is so underrated wow 10/10
Yeah, the layout of target is more like a museum, where you walk around and everything is accessible to the eye, and unlike a warehouse, you don't have to physically move things around to see something.
Oh man... I miss Department Stores. Purely for the childhood nostalgia. I miss playing the demos at the PlayStation display while my parents looked for important items they need.