Target Shoppers: Popular Store Makes Me Spend All My Money

I love you. As far back as I can remember, I've been going to you for everything from toilet plungers and cheap frozen food to cute shoes and birthday presents. You make all the other big-box stores look pale with your giant red bull's-eye.

But Target, I think you may have pulled a fast one on me at some point in our relationship. Going to you is somehow not as fun and lighthearted as it used to be, and I think that you are purposely trying to take all my money.

Here are five ways I feel tricked by you into spending my cash, running up credit card bills, and going home with more crap than anyone could ever need:

1. You make me feel like I'm taking home a piece of the whole store.

Target, you are so good at branding. Many of your clothing designs have featured polka dots reminiscent of your logo, and Target designers work with the same trendy colors and patterns repeated over and over again. The effect is that when you walk through a Target store, you never forget you are in Target. Everything there looks like a piece of a larger aesthetic.

Artists who exhibit at art fairs use a similar tactic, often displaying a few big-ticket items and lots of smaller, cheaper things that remind a viewer of the big things they were first attracted to. When someone buys the $10 print, they are really buying the $500 painting, so to speak.

If you love the Target look (and I do!), taking home one brown and pink bedspread makes you feel like you are redecorating your whole bedroom. The idea of color and pattern repetition is there whether you bought twelve things or one thing. And you'll remember the matching things you didn't buy with longing, looking forward to your next Target visit. (Oh, Target, you know I'll be back!)

2. Target makes you pick things up to see them more closely.

When I worked as a video store clerk, I asked my manager if I could fix the shelves that held the previously viewed DVDs we sold so that they didn't all fall when someone tried to look through them. He said no, the rack was designed to spill movies on purpose. I learned an important retail lesson that day: People are much more likely to buy something they've touched. By forcing people to pick up objects, you force an attachment that might not have formed otherwise.

Target, if I go to you looking for a new soap dispenser or toothbrush holder, there are so many next to each other on the shelves that I have to pick them up to look more closely. I think you've been playing with my emotions!

3. Target, your dollar rack is insidious.

I can go into Target with five dollars in my wallet, and still end up spending all my money. I blame your dollar rack. I see it right when I walk in, gleaning with Hello Kitty notepads and colorful flip flops. But not everything on the dollar rack is a dollar.

Before I know it, I've picked up a fish-shaped rug for $2.50 and a cheetah print dinner plate for $3.00. And just beyond the dollar rack I can see the handbags and satchels, and the glint of costume jewelry. And then I think, I could open a Target credit card account and save ten percent on all this stuff I'm holding in my arms.

4. If that thingy is so cheap, I can buy more thingies because I am saving money!

Sometimes I go to you for a specific thing, like a dress for a casual summer wedding. I find a dress (or three) I love, and flip over the price tag. Only $23.99? Why not buy one in brown and one in black? I might have spent $50 on a dress somewhere else, so really I can afford to buy two. And if these are so cheap, I can certainly afford a new pair of shoes to go with them. Target, when will I learn that spending money is not the same thing as saving money?

5. Your sections overlap and confuse me; I wander aimlessly and touch everything on the way.

When I come to you for a spatula, I have to wander through the blenders and silverware sets to find it in the maze of aisles. I get distracted by the colors and patterns. I pick out new sheets, fluff the pillows, and wonder if my bathmat needs replacing. I end up going too far, and then I see the great deals on fruit snacks and granola bars in the grocery section. My shopping buddy has decided to wait for me in CDs, and by the time I return to him, his arms are full of DVDs and office supplies. Why must we look so hard to find the things we need? Why must the road to good intentions be paved with so many objects of desire?

Target, I don't think I can afford to keep you in my life for too much longer. Unless you give me a job and a sweet employee discount (or extend my credit limit), I need some time away. And don't try to lure me back with a furniture sale. You know how I've always wanted a café table, and it's shameless of you to throw that in my face at a time like this.

Sincerely,

Your loyal (and broke) customer