True story - Noel and I finalized the house purchase when he was deployed in the Fall of 2004. My sister came out to Oahu to help me when the movers arrived with our stuff from Maryland. We were driving around picking up the usual move-in items: door mats, toilet paper, Windex, shower curtains, etc. (OK, maybe that is a "usual" list when you move from Maryland to Hawaii!). She asked if the island had any Target stores. I said I didn't think so as I hadn't seen any. So she calls 411 and when she asks, the young, female voice on the other end apologetically says, "No, we're not that advanced."
Well, this week, Hawai'i is that advanced. Not one but two (!) Target stores opened, the first in the state. One more on the Big Island (Kona) expected by the end of the year. There was a "soft opening" on Tuesday, with grand openings for both scheduled for Sunday. Even the soft opening was crazy. One of the store managers was quoted in the paper that they didn't expect such crowds as they didn't do an all-out media blitz. Huh? The next time you try to keep something under wraps, don't tell the local media outlets! The paper ran a story and a number of TV stations reported it on the evening news.
One trend I guess we should have expected: Every single print ad that I've seen features a can of SPAM stacked prominently among the products. We get it; you're here, you're local. I wonder how long they will keep it up.
No comments:
Post a Comment