I miss Target stores while living in Germany

[lilplatinum 7,142]

So it would be more asthetically pleasing to you if some items were only available in certain places?

[fruitlassie 8]

 

I'm not sure where you all live, sure there is no Target in Germany. The Target i went to earlier this year (Hartford CT) was huge, no doubt, but seriously it didn't have anything i couldn't buy here. Of course you have to ge into a few stores for it. The thing is that in Germany you profit from living in more metropolitian Area, in the US you have the same supplies everywhere you go. But actually i found that to be a bit sad. Last year i spend a month there, been to probably ten states while visiting some friends. Everything from Massachusetts to Virginia. Honestly every place looked pretty much the same once you entered a certain shopping area. You could never tell where you are. Apple Bees, Whole foods, Trader joe, Target, random Mall. Sometimes whole places had the same layout.

Germany is hardly any better--go into any random shopping center here and you will find the same boring shops--Esprit, Tchibo, Douglas, H&M, S. Oliver, yadda yadda...and plenty of big box stores from Bauhaus to Ikea to Media Markt/Saturn to Staples. There is also very little to differentiate between the big department stores or supermarkets, in terms of both price and selection.

 

As for Target not having stuff you can't buy here, you are simply wrong. Even if you did find comparable items after going into 30 different German stores you would almost inevitably be paying more for them, even before factoring in the exchange rate.

[gaberlunzi 814]

 

Do you just wear the same outfit day in and day out for years? Probably. Men!

Yup When you had to wear a tie 6 days a week for decades and don't have to impress any one anymore, it feels good.

[cinzia 2,643]

Target has much better design for much cheaper than anywhere in Germany. Except maybe IKEA, but of course we have that, too.

 

No 20% VAT or whatever it's up to now, for starters.

[leeza 1,895]

 

Thing is leeza you have to compare like with like.

$7.50 in the US and € 80 here Ok, but you said it was a double super reduced special offer price you paid in the US.

Yes I got a great deal. But the Sketchers I got are normally priced at $40. So even at a 1:1 exchange rate, they are half-price in the States. Then of course with the awesome exchange rate, that puts them at around €28. At normal price.

 

I get that imported American-brand shoes would be higher priced here than at in the States. But the markup on Nikes, Sketchers, even friggin Adidas (German brand) is just shocking. I guess it is all about what the market will bear. But in any case, I only do show shopping back home.

[Carm 74]

 

But the markup on Nikes, Sketchers, even friggin Adidas (German brand) is just shocking. I guess it is all about what the market will bear. But in any case, I only do show shopping back home.

I have a friend that works here for Adidas, and I can get things cheaper back home from the outlet, not even with the exchange rate counted in! Than what he can get stuff for here.

I do 90% of my shopping back home due to prices and the convience of stores being open late and sundays. Germany's loss!

[DMarkLasVegas 1]

My partner of 27 years works at Target a mile from our house here in Las Vegas (the number 2 most profitable Target store in the entire US, after NYC).

 

One thing I like about Target is their selection and style.

 

For instance, you can go to Walmart to buy something simple and basic, like an electric hand mixer...they will have two or three models of them, all of them white.

 

Go to Target and they will have 12 models, with five different color choices.

 

Do I need all five colors or all 12 models? No. But it is nice to have a choice.

[Jules Winnfield 60]

A huge box of the best cotton swabs in the world, Q-Tips, only at Target. Sigh...

[toko 475]

 

Yes I got a great deal. But the Sketchers I got are normally priced at $40. So even at a 1:1 exchange rate, they are half-price in the States. Then of course with the awesome exchange rate, that puts them at around €28. At normal price.

 

I get that imported American-brand shoes would be higher priced here than at in the States. But the markup on Nikes, Sketchers, even friggin Adidas (German brand) is just shocking. I guess it is all about what the market will bear. But in any case, I only do show shopping back home.

Nikes sold in Europe will never see the US. They are shipped from (enter random asian country) to Europe/Germany. Same goes for adidas etc. It doesn't really matter what country the brand originally came from, the production is in Asia.

 

Anyway i often do show shopping in the Netherlands, i like the Outlet in Roermond.

[Wysiwyg 3]

 

Dave It's probably a bit more along the lines of Marks & Sparks.

You are kidding, right? I used to live in Oz and Target ain't not M&S. Don't get me wrong its good but not THAT good! :P

[Marky m 0]

Uh