An Open Letter to Target and All Shoppers

There are few things that would inspire me to wake up early and be at Target before 8 a.m.: the Taylor Swift Deluxe CD and Lilly for Target.

Before I begin, I want to applaud Target on their designer collaborations.  I love the concept, the clothes and the price.  I remember buying my first Proenza Schouler dress there and explaining to my mom how this company has clothes retailing for hundreds -- and thousands -- of dollars.  My dress for my college graduation was from the Kate Young for Target Collection.

From the moment Lilly was announced as the new collaboration, I had the date on my calendar.  I blogged about the collaboration and could not contain my excitement.  This morning, however, when I walked into the store, I was heartbroken; I felt as though I had walked into the jungle.  People were grabbing all the dresses off the racks without even looking at them and throwing them into their carts.  Those items are now being sold on eBay for more than double the original price.  One lady had four shopping carts piled high while others walked away empty handed.  These actions defeat the purpose of the collection: to make fashion affordable.  Espresso cups that sold for $30 in store are now going for $150 on eBay.  These people are taking advantage of the system as an easy way to make a buck -- or $120.

After finding the racks empty upon the doors opening, I made my way to the dressing room area in hopes that someone might not want an outfit in my size.  A line quickly formed of people waiting for "rejects."  It started out friendly with people coming out of the dressing rooms saying they had a size if we wanted it, but it quickly turned nasty.  People started bartering, some almost attacking people as they came out of the dressing room asking for their rejects, those people were unwilling to part with items if they didn't get anything in return.  Some people in the "reject" line had driven 2 hours and were almost in tears because they didn't have anything to trade.  I was appalled and saddened at this behavior.  Someone wouldn't give me a cover-up they'd been GIVEN by someone else because I didn't have anything to trade.  Those people didn't even want the cover-up.  I was disgusted by the amount of greed.  People were holding on to items they didn't want simply so they could trade them for other items.

This isn't to say everyone was a greedy, money-hungry shopper.  There were nice people and bonds were formed while we waited in the "reject" line.  One lady gave a dress to someone and all she asked for in return was a hug because she saw how much that one piece of clothing meant to someone else.  Her kindness filled me with so much joy.

I know the world isn't fair and there isn't a cut and dry way to fix this problem without upsetting people.  However, when new gaming systems are released, as well as other items, there are limits to the amount you can purchase.  On Black Friday, customers are only allowed a certain number of one product and they are fine.  Surely there has to be a way to monitor this.

People's actions today made me disappointed in the human race.  Names were called, arguments were had and the worst was brought out in women.  I'm not talking about just catty teenagers or young 20-somethings.  I'm talking about professional women, moms and grandmas.

Now, I'm asking all of you to take a stand with me and NOT buy any of the Lilly for Target on eBay.  If I have items that do not fit my family members, I'm returning the items to Target in hopes of making someone else's day.  I'm not going to make money by piggybacking off the success of Ms. Pulitzer and Target.  There is a reason the two partnered and that is to bring affordable fashion to the masses, not to jack up the prices to be sold on eBay so someone else can make money off of the Pulitzer and Target teams ideas.