In NYC, even the opening of a
In NYC, even the opening of a new Target store is a big deal. The likes of Chloe Sevigny, Sandra Bernhard, and Maggie Gyllenhaal turned up to shop for Britta water filters and bathmats.
Advertise here with Carbon Ads
This site is made possible by member support. 💞
Big thanks to Arcustech for hosting the site and offering amazing tech support.
When you buy through links on kottke.org, I may earn an affiliate commission. Thanks for supporting the site!
kottke.org. home of fine hypertext products since 1998.
Reader comments
kcJul 21, 2004 at 6:07PM
Actually, a more appropriate title would be "*Only* in NYC is the opening of a new Target store a big deal."
BernieJul 21, 2004 at 6:29PM
Where I live, the Target store is the only store where you can get affordable (cheap) stuff that might actually be ok quality. It's a neccessity, and I never thought of it as a hipster place, though the neatly arranged products are Warholian - maybe Chloe got to pretend she was Edie.
I wonder who would show up at the opening of a Manhattan Menards
Seth WerkheiserJul 21, 2004 at 10:21PM
I have a Target near me, here in the Poconos of PA, and well... it's just not THAT trendy. Of course, there's a Home Depot next door, and a warehouse outlet named BJ's... eek... let's (literally) not go there.
Stefan JonesJul 22, 2004 at 12:18AM
Awww . . . B.J.'s Warehouse was the first membership / warehouse club I belonged to, when such things were rare in 1988.
It was kind of a mind-blower at the time. Long Island and the NYC area is general was resistant to big box outlets. K-Mart and Wal-Mart didn't make inroads there until (thinko) the very late 80s, maybe early 90s. The local "discount" chains must have been too fiesty for them.
Target *is* classy compared to K-Mart and Wal-Mart and (especially) Bi-Mart, a brave little employee-owned Oregon discount outlet that's kind of like a coyote to Wal-Mart's wolf. It crops up in niches too sparse for Wally, and like the coyote is kind of scruffy and lean.
EliotJul 22, 2004 at 2:19AM
How about - "Free beer is a big deal anywhere"
NickJul 22, 2004 at 12:07PM
I sometimes shop at Target Store #1, in Roseville, MN. It has a very plain, 60's strip mall look to it. I wonder how many of these people have ever heard of such a place.
This thread is closed to new comments. Thanks to everyone who responded.