Glory for Girls Coming to Target.com

Glory for Girls, an eco-friendly beauty line, will be available at Target.com starting this month. All of the Glory for Girls products are free of known potentially harmful ingredients, such as artificial colors or fragrances, petrochemicals, parabens, sulfates, and hormone disruptors. The 100% vegan formulas are clinically and allergy tested, biodegradable, and the packaging is made of recyclable plastics. Plus, all the are made in the USA.

"With retailers like Target, that pride themselves on bringing high-fashion to the masses, Glory has the visibility and reach to address a growing market for girls as well as their mothers," said Brittany Clotfelter, founder of Glory for Girls.

The complete Glory for Girls line includes face and body washes, lotion, deodorant, lip balms and clarifying products retailing from $7 to $22. The line will be featured in four categories on the Target.com web site: Natural/Organic, Skincare, Personal Care and New Arrivals.

Sneak Peek: Anna Sui for Target

Anna Sui’s Go International collection for Target doesn’t hit stores until September, but it’s already generating a lot of buzz. In case you missed the news, Anna’s line is inspired by the four main female characters from the TV show “Gossip Girl”. The collection will be available in Target stores and online September 13th through October 17th. There are 19 looks total, each inspired by one of the four main female Gossip Girl characters (Blair, Serena, Jenny, and Vanessa) and broken into categories as such. At left are a sampling of looks, but check out the CollegeFashion site for more preview pics.

PS: this seems to be the most dress/skirt intensive Go International collection I’ve ever seen!

Pick of the Week

It's Pick of the Week time: each week I pick one great buy from Target's Weekly Ad (in the Sunday newspaper) and highlight it here on my blog. Today's pick goes out to all my gal pals who keep asking me "do you have a bike? Do you ride with the kids?" And I tell them yes - yes I do have a bike, and that one of my absolute favorite Spring and Summer activities is our Sunday bike rides together as a family. So KK and Val and Caroline, no more excuses, ok? Run out and get this sleek Schwinn Clear Creek Comfort Bike, on sale at Target this week for just $169 (or $30 off!). It features a comfy suspension seat, 18-speed Shimano grip shifters, plus a handy cargo rack. Target even offers free assembly in the store; it doesn't get any easier than that.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July everyone! Here in Northern California we've been blessed with warm and sunny weather (but thankfully not the scorcher that last weekend was). The hubby and I are about to head over to my brother's for an Independence Day BBQ; it'll be quiet this year since the kids are all off doing their own thing (indicative of being teenagers, I suppose... oh well!).

In any case, have a spectacular and safe 4th of July. And in the event you should need any last-minute items for your own celebration, Target stores ARE open today (as are most malls, supermarkets, and convenience stores). Does anyone else remember when everything was CLOSED on the 4th of July? I mentioned this to a friend of mine who's about 12 years older than me, and she said she remembers when most stores were closed on Sundays (!!!).

Sneak Peek: Target’s Fall ’09 Accessories

I know, I know….it’s barely the 4th of July, and no one wants to think Autumn just yet. Nonetheless, Target's already gearing up for the upcoming season. According to FabSugar, for Fall '09 Target “focused on texture and sleek embellishments such as suede shoes made in a rainbow of colors and clutches decorated with zany zippers”. I’m crushing on these suede peep-toe booties (shown) as well as the retro cloche hat. For additional preview pics, check out FabSugar’s site.

Target’s New “up & up” Brand

Target has relaunched its store brand of basic household products as they adjust to changing consumer habits in the recession. They’ve rebranded their core commodities line — a product category that includes everyday items such as baby wipes, sunscreen, dryer sheets and plastic containers — under the name “up & up.” The relaunch includes new packaging that replaces the traditional Bullseye logo with colorful arrows and the new brand name.

Target has actually been phasing in “up & up” products into its stores since March, although I personally have seen a huge upswing in the rebranded merchandise in stores in just the past two weeks. By the end of September, Target will be selling more than 800 “up & up” products. Target claims the brand is equal in quality to national brands (and they even hired a third-party testing firm to back up their claims) but at a lower price, offering a savings of 30% on average.

“Our guests are savvy and know they don’t have to spend a lot to get high-quality products,” Mark Schindele, Target’s senior vice president of merchandising, said in a news release.

The rebranding is all part of Target's efforts to stay competitive in this recession. Store brands are on the upswing — they’re generally more profitable than name-brands for retailers — and market researchers say that consumers are increasingly buying in-house brands to save money.

PS: in a similar move, Target rival Walmart recently relaunched its own private brand, called “Great Value”.

Wednesday’s Rave: the KROOOM Tree Stump Stool

While I was in Target the other day, I noticed a new endcap in the home furnishings department that had me do a double-take. What caught my eye was this wacky storage stool from a company called KROOOM, which looks exactly like a tree stump! It’d be perfect for a teen’s or dorm room, and although there were other styles of KROOOM stools there (one was definitely more “girly” in a pink & purple paisley print) this one really stood out. When I tried to find more information on Target’s site, there was none… so I did a web search and found out that that Jon at Happy Mundane was as taken with this item as I was. So check out his blog for more information and pics of KROOOM’s packaging and Target’s endcap.