Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on Target. That seems to be the lesson Target learned following last fall's drama that came to be known in our offices as "The Great Missoni For Target Crash of 2011". After stores sold out and the site went down, Target faced major heat from both shoppers and internal executives who quickly scrambled to make right the many orders people paid for but then were told they were no longer getting.
Enter designer Jason Wu and his capsule collection for the retail giant. This time around, Target was extremely vague about when everything would be available, other than to say February 5th. Late last night their Twitter feed was happily giving away pieces from Wu's collection, but today in the NYC area (ground zero for Wu's fashion fan base, it seems) many were frustrated that that they weren't informed that doors were opening at the Brooklyn store at 6 am (the only one in the area unless you're up for a trek to Bronx/Harlem). Others were upset that Target stores in their area weren't carrying the collection at all. (Note: While about half the collecton is now available online, the rest is in-store only. Just so you know, several of the pieces are already sold out online.)
"We did not message a specific time for the launch - apologies that you missed the launch," Target tweeted. Throughout the morning their twitter feed continued to respond to customer service complaints in a speedy manner, reiterating their apologies and offering help in finding participating stores, while reassuring others that the online boutique would be re-stocking in the "next few weeks."
Sure, this is certainly a bummer for those of you eager to scoop some of the collection up, but let's look at the positives:
1. The Target site didn't crash and they're working overtime on Twitter to get people the info they need.
2. This time around, we're betting re-stocking will be quick and cut down all the jerks on e-Bay trying to scalp the pieces for three times their normal value.
3. By splitting the collection between stores and online, this is going to cut down on crowds (which is always a major safety concern for retailers -- just look at Black Friday as an example).
4. You don't have to stress about getting something TODAY. Yes, you can enjoy the Super Bowl knowing you can just start checking the site over the next week to see what's back in stock.
Overall, this is a vast improvement and we're not going to beat up Target for being all secretative this time around. We love us some Wu just like everybody else, but not if it means getting trampled by a crazed stiletto mob.
