"Target is for rich people"

[msomnipotent]

Funny thing is that simply isn't true. See ccf's post earlier where the Walmart and Target were right next to each other and attracted very different clientele.

The two attract different people. It's not just based on location. One Walmart near me (two actually) are in pretty decent suburban neighborhoods, but people from other lesser neighborhoods travel to shop there by car or bus. They could get to Target just as easily but they don't.

I'm not comparing Target people to Walmart people with that statement. I'm comparing Walmart shoppers to the neighborhood. In my neighborhood, no one shops in their pj's at Walmart, or has pants down to their ankles. The shoppers might look a little less wealthy than a typical Target shopper, but they are still pretty normal. The Walmart my sister works at has shootings in the parking lot every few months and people have to be told to keep their pants on. There isn't a Target in that neighborhood to compare to, which is also a bit telling in my book. My in-law's Walmart has so many people shopping in pajamas that I really thought it was "Shop in your PJ's Day", and a lot of the shoppers are either filthy with grease, paint, or dirt. I can see someone running out to Home Depot when they ran out of paint and didn't have time to clean up before the paint dried, but I don't know why someone is in such a rush to shop at WM that they can't shower off dirt after they hop off of their tractor.

I have a hard time imagining shopping being so segregated that a completely different clientele would be so close together and not shop at the same stores, but perhaps it is because there is no public transportation out here. If you are shopping here, you probably live here.

[disneysteve]

I have a hard time imagining shopping being so segregated that a completely different clientele would be so close together and not shop at the same stores, but perhaps it is because there is no public transportation out here. If you are shopping here, you probably live here.

I live in a reasonably well-off town. The median household income is about $89,000. Right down the road, less than 8 miles away, is the town where I worked for 17 years. The median household income there is $26,000.

There is a WalMart and a Target in my town. Guess which town most of the shoppers at the Walmart are from vs. those at the Target. I'm talking about stores that are less than 2 miles apart in the same town on the same road. The people shopping at Walmart could get to Target just as easily but don't. Why? I'm guessing it is all about pricing.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

In the $26,000 income area, absolutely price makes the difference! At that income level a few pennies saved here and there is important. Also at that income level, transportation is often unreliable so if you can get everything you need at one store on one visit, it is better. You don't have to again come up with taxi money, busfare, gas money, or the relative with a car to get you to a second place when your own junker of a car is broken down.

My husband and I have been noticing that we don't buy very much at Target anymore. I think the biggest reason for that is no longer having a child at home who needs school supplies, or a new coat, shoes, pack of underwear, t-shirts, a gift for a birthday party, etc. We used to shop a lot at Target when we had a kid at home. And if Walmart had been closer we probably would have gone there much more often.

[Mjenn]

that is definitely a common opinion.. there s this ongoing thing about how Target is supposed to be pronounced it's not "target" but "tarjay" ..

I don't know where it originated from .. not sure if it was Target themselves trying to make it known that they are not Walmart.

People are actually able to help you at Target unlike Walmart. there is a price to pay for that.

I’ve only ever heard that Tarjay as sarcasm, not seriously. I am always surprised Target isn’t cheaper. In the area we usually visit Target took over the local Kmart. If I didn’t know better it seems like almost the same store with slightly brighter interiors but more expensive. However more people seem willing to shop at Target than Kmart which was considered cheap.

[Fishindude77]

I've never been in a target store and really don't see that I will ever need to?
Guess I've led a sheltered life, or am just not high society enough

[disneysteve]

I've never been in a target store

My wife and daughter shop in Target all the time. I'd say it's fairly uncommon for a week to go by without a visit. We even shop there when we're on vacation and need stuff that we didn't want to pack or ran out of.

We get a lot of household stuff there, though not as much since we joined BJ's. We used to get paper goods like tissues and toilet paper at Target but they are cheaper at BJ's. Same for ziploc bags, trash bags, aluminum foil, etc. But there are still a bunch of things we get at Target.

[Nutria]

Walmart's closer and -- because of the road layouts -- easier to get too. I don't see many pajamas, but lots -- and I means lots -- of tattooed women with children (but I'm old and fogeyish).

[Singuy]

Target is definitely for people in at least the middle class, but more often it's successful in middle upper class areas. It's the discount big box store with refinement. The store is generally clean, their shopping carts are quiet, their flooring is not cement, and they are all remodeling to version 2.0 that makes them look more like a higher end retailer.

We had a Target in a poorer neighborhood which ended up shutting down after 10 years. Rumor has it, the amount of shoplifting and people purchasing lower ASP items killed the store.

Target's clientele are more likely to pick up a Dyson while buying milk than clientele shopping at Walmart.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

target is definitely more upper middle class. it's a lot like Costco versus Sam's club. Costco shopper = target and walmart = sam's club.

Anyway until we drove cross country i'd never seen a super walmart or target. In fact I'd never been in a target or walmart that sold fresh food. I mean canned goods, soda, and chips but not the superstore. WOW. I mean i totally got why people could buy everything from there.

I could care less. I go to wherever is closer. I know walmart is cheaper so if I buy something online I then will make the drive to pick it up. But otherwise target because it's closer but I think Walmart has better deals. I go to a mall that has walmart on one end and target on the other end when I have to go to walmart.

Truthfully I prefer both to Amazon.

[disneysteve]

Truthfully I prefer both to Amazon.

We shop on Amazon a lot but for different sorts of things than we buy at Target and Walmart.

[rob62521]

Sadly, I've heard the same comment. And Wal-Mart has people brainwashed in my small city. That's the go to no matter what, even if other places are cheaper, they think it is more reasonable without actually price matching.

[Gailete]

Target is a 40+ mile round trip and WM is about 24 miles round trip. It is a super WM so I can get anything we need there for the most part except I don't buy produce or meat there. I go to local grocery stores for that. Target seems to be a huge store that I don't know very well as I am rarely in it and since I can no longer go 'window shopping' in stores, it gets left off my list of places to go. I haven't shopped at Target enough to know how their prices are.

Last week I used the WM pick up for the first time for some things that I didn't know where they were in the store (even using an electric w/c there I get so tired the longer I'm out). Doing the Pick Up was easy and free. Now I know I can go through my whole list of what I need and order only what I need instead of forgetting that I had bought the week before. Since hubby cooks as much as me these days, it can get difficult to know what is needed all the time. Letting someone else run around the store for me sounds like a nifty idea!

[~bs]

walmart is ok. when you go to walmart, it may not be the dirt cheapest price (and frequently isnt), but the price will be reasonable and on the cheaper side. However, walmart is, in a word, ghetto.

quality wise, target will almost always be equal or higher to. generally more expensive, but when they have sales, it can take prices quite a bit lower than walmart.

Personally for shopping, I go to costco and buy in bulk. For fruits/vegetables, I go to chinatown. For other misc. groceries, I'll go to whatever grocery store is closest and most convenient.

[GrimJack]

I just can't shop at WalMart - I do not know if it is a political thing or a social thing but I do not like their politics -- and I spend too much time at PeopleofWalmart

[Gailete]

Since I shop there a lot, I obviously don't have problems shopping there, but it depends on the store and its location. Last time my son and I went grocery shopping, we went to our regular WM and wanted to see if another one would have more stock for something I was looking for. I was too tired to walk so stayed in the car with my doors locked. Apparently while coming in to park, some woman cut a guy off, the screaming and foul language the guy was using was totally uncalled for. There were people hanging out all over the front of the store, none of them looking like they were there to shop. I decided I didn't need to go back there. When my son came back the first thing he said was "We don't need to come here anymore". Two minds thinking alike. Something spooked him while inside the store but he didn't tell me what (or possibly couldn't tell me why the hair on the back of his neck was standing up), while I was being spooked outside. I am sure the main management of WM would not have appreciated that the folks hanging around were causing real shoppers to leave and not come back. This truly was a ghetto Walmart! Our closest Target is way out of the way of our usual shopping routes.

Over the years I have been offered the 'opportunity' to boycott different stores for whatever reasons. I don't do it. If I have a problem with a store, I will stop shopping there. At one point a bookstore chain was being boycotted because they sold pornographic magazines. Well sorry to say, for a long time it was the ONLY chain book store in town, any of the others were local stores, mainly offering used books. I have nothing against used books, but for one period of my life I could afford a new first edition copy from my favorite authors when they came out with a new book. I didn't see any reason to boycott the store because I knew a lot of places that sold those kind of magazines and I doubt the boycott was very effective. Nestle was supposed to be boycotted as well for reasons I can't remember. I don't think a small group of people boycotting stores is going to make a bit of difference or get the place to change their tactics. I don't care about a store's 'politics' nor the same with different actors and actresses politics. I like Barbara Streisand movies and my boys would complain about her politics, etc. and so they 'couldn't stand her'. Didn't matter to me since it didn't change how she was as an actress. One of my favorite movies being The Mirror Has Two Faces.

I know that some won't shop at WM for whatever reason, but the store I go to is generally full and hard to find one of their electric w/c of the 8-10 that they have. So people not going there means there is a chance of getting a cart or slightly less crowded isles or even a parking place!