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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.

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.