Shoppers' Guide to the Brandermill, Virginia, Target Store

Tucked away behind the McDonald's and a strip of stores in the Commonwealth Center shopping area is the Brandermill Target store. You will find it across the street from the Barnes & Noble bookstore and to the left of the Kohl's store.

This store seems to always be clean and well stocked. The management responds well to customer needs and tends to err on the side of the customer. Generally, items are laid out in an orderly manner and easy to find - though, on occasion, something will "hide" rather well.

Getting There

I have found it easiest to approach this Target by turning in off U.S. Route 360, Hull Street Road, at the McDonald's and Sun Trust bank. If you drive between the bank and McDonald's you will come out right at the main entrance of the Target. During the day you can make a left and park along the side of the building. You will be closer to the doors than anywhere else in the parking lot even if you are not "in front" of the store. I understand that some people may not like being around back (around "the side" actually) after dark. In that case, I suggest you drive along the front of the store to the far end of the lot, away from the area directly in front of the doors. For some reason everybody, and I do mean everybody, seems compelled to try and put their vehicle in front of those stupid doors even if it means they have to park half a mile away at the back of the lot. If you drive down to the far end of the lot, you can still park at the front of the lot, right up near the building and lights and will not have as far to walk. In other words, walking over to the doors from the end of the building is shorter than walking from the back end of the parking lot. Plus, you will not have to try to park with 20 other vehicles maneuvering around you and 50 pedestrians walking through your blind spots. It is just safer to park where there is less traffic.

Navigating the Store

At the Brandermill Target the main doors are to the front left of the store. The store has three main aisles running the length of the store and three main aisles running across. It is divided into "soft lines" (clothing) on the left and "hard lines" (everything else) on the right. If you are in doubt about which area you are in just look down: If you are standing on carpet then you are in soft lines; if you are on linoleum, then you are in hard lines. Simple.

As you enter the store the customer service desk will be to your immediate left, in the double entrance doors. Just inside the doors, again on your left, you will find the gift registry kiosk. On your right you will see the restrooms and the photo developing station with self-serve kiosks where you may scan and print your own pictures. Ahead to your left you will find the snack bar and on your right is "One Spot" where target has seasonal knickknacks for a dollar. From here, the cash registers will be arrayed to your right and soft lines will be directly in front of you. The jewelry counter will be to your front and right across the main aisle.

If you make a right turn here and walk down the main, front aisle, along the cash registers you will come to a turn off to the left, which dead ends into the main aisle you are on. If you look down that main aisle you will see, to the right: greetings cards, then house wares, then household items (such as hardware, irons/ironing boards, tools, etc). To the left, you will see more soft lines such as: children's clothes and shoes. In the house wares/children's clothes sections another main aisle, the central one, will cross and then the aisle you are looking down will dead end into the back main aisle of the store both of these cross main aisles running parallel to the main front aisle you are now on.

Continue down the main front aisle and you will find cleaning supplies on your right located across from office and school supplies on your left. Then you will find health/beauty and pharmacy on your right across from books, software and CD/DVD on your left. Coming to the end of the aisle you will find the electronics department.

Make a left turn onto the end main aisle of the store and you will find the "Marketplace" food section on the right and past the CD/DVD area the other end of the house ware area you glimpsed earlier. The central main aisle comes out and meets the end main aisle you are walking on here. Down the house ware aisle you will have such things as dishes, kitchenware, furniture, appliances, clocks and decorative to the left. To the right you will see towels and washcloths, curtains, bathroom fixtures, bed linens and the like. If you continue down the end main aisle you will find the end of the toys section on your left and, just past the Marketplace, you will find the "seasonal" area on your right. Seasonal is where you will find school supplies in August, Christmas decorations for half the year, summer stuff for the other half and so on.

Make a left past toys and you will be on the back main aisle of the store. Of course toys will be on your left and on your right, well, it could be anything. The Brandermill Target uses that area as an overflow for seasonal items. On the back wall you will find bicycles. As you walk further down the aisle you will move into the tools on your right and household items on your left. Here you will cross the center main aisle and cross into soft lines.

Shoes will be on your left and men's clothing on your right. This aisle just wraps around the end of the store moving through men's clothing and on down through all the assorted phases of women's clothing until it ends up back at the front doors.

Finding the Deals

Now, having been through the Brandermill Target store, you are probably just wondering, "but where are the deals?" Good question. Generally speaking they are on the endcaps. For those of you who do not know, "endcaps" are the short little shelves at the end of each row of shelving - not the ones sticking out into the main aisles however. Go around back to the endcaps facing away from the main aisles. This is where you will find the clearance stuff that has been marked down. It is rather "hit or miss" as some of it is actual clearance and some are returns. The endcaps in electronics and house wares tend to have the best selections.

You may also find decent deals on DVDs in three spots. As you come in the store turn right at "One Spot" and look at the cash register endcaps. About the third or fourth one down usually has some DVDs for $7.50. Sometimes there are a few decent titles there. Then if you go to the far right end aisle, in hard lines, back between Marketplace and toys, on the endcap by toys, you will find some DVDs for $5. Usually there are a bunch of yuck movies but once in awhile you find something good. The final spot is in the regular DVD section, on the aisle not on the DVD wall, you will find some TV seasons. Target regularly has some decent shows for as low as $19.99.

The next good deal I have noticed is in the seasonal area. This deal is not regular and there is a "trick" to it. The trick is to wait until the day after a holiday and then start shopping in seasonal. Target starts shifting holiday seasonal items to the right and rear of the seasonal area, in order to make room for the next display, the day after that holiday, if not sooner. Oh, and they start marking it down. The farther you get from the holiday the more they mark it down and, of course, the less you have to choose from. The real trick is balancing a good percentage of markdown while still having a nice selection. I do all of my Christmas shopping for a year in January of that same year at about 50-percent off. OK, I may not have the latest, greatest gadget out there but that is OK - I am a more traditional decorator anyway. It works for me.

In Marketplace, look for the target brands. The prices are extremely competitive and I have found the quality to be very good. I have also had good luck combining sales with coupons.

The shoe department sometimes has certain shoes on clearance for a good price. The large tags sticking out from their boxes may usually help locate these items.

Checking Out

Once you are ready to check out you should have no problem at all. There is no trick to getting a fast register. I have never had to wait for more than one or two, at the most, people ahead of me and that is a backup. The store policy is that, if there are two people in the line, the cashier hits a button on the register to call for more cashiers and open more lanes. Usually you will find cashiers standing in front of their lanes, as you come to the front of the store, waiting for you. You can definitely hop in and back out of this Target as fast as you like and be on your way.

I hope this helps you find your way around the Brandermill Target and, perhaps, locate a deal or two.