Tuesday's Rant: Different Targets = Different Discounts

On Tuesdays I take the opportunity to rant about something I do NOT like about Target …because although I love them to death, they ain’t perfect. Today’s rant is about different discount schedules at different Target stores. Now I understand if, say, Target Store A only has a couple of the cute navy eyelet Isaac Mizrahi skirts left in stock, so they put the last two on sale for 30 or 50% off….whereas Target Store B (just a few miles away) still has almost a dozen such skirts in stock, so those won’t be discounted until later. What I don’t understand is when both stores have OODLES of the same item that have been languishing on store shelves, not budging an inch, and one store puts them on sale for 30% off, and the other immediately goes to 50%. Case in point: as of Friday, one Target store near me had marked down the Joy Gryson handbags (you remember, the ones I hated) to 50%, whereas another store I went to on Sunday only had the bags discounted by 30%. I just don’t get it.

Do Target store managers have discount discretion at their fingertips? A friend of mine once worked at Pottery Barn, and told me that was the case with them; some managers were more aggressive with the markdowns than others. Hence, some stores had deeper discounts and better buys.

I guess the lesson learned is: shop around for the best bargain, IF you’re lucky enough to have more than one Target within driving distance. And, with gas prices as they are, you might be better off just ordering online from Target.com (especially with all the free shipping promotions Target’s been running lately).