Target traffic part deux
Let me say that early reports of a light crowd at the Galleria Target were GROSSLY exaggerated.
On the way to the overpriced churrascaria stand in the Galleria food court (and at the behest of my LAist-reading editors), I decided to dive into the three-story belly of a retail beast that has been a subject of obsession for LA's Web dwelling hipsters.
My first sight of the red bullseye -- 12:45 p.m. Friday -- were the shopping bags hulled by a group walking through the mall toward Mervyn's. Surely they couldn't be --gasp! -- Target shoppers!
After walking through one end of the mall to the other, I arrived at the Target's mall-side entrance -- there they were: clerks in red polo shirts, Starbucks, Pizza Hut and a row of check-out stands. At first glance -- a good crowd of 30-50 shoppers with moms, kids and downtown workers on their lunch break. It's the same scene upstairs and down, some pushing red shopping carts, others with a few sundries in hand.
All-in-all, a fair lunch-time crowd -- not quite as busy you'd expect in more established Targets as Burbank, Valencia or Pasadena, but not exactly empty either. The parking structure behind the building is about half-to-2/3rds full, with some folks opting to park in the sun (which I'm sure they wouldn't if the lot was empty).
Okay, so it's not exactly the weekend madness and traffic nightmare and meat market that is the West Hollywood Target, but hey, maybe after a few weeks?
Besides, those couple blocks of downtown Glendale are still a work-in-progress -- Rick Caruso's Americana won't open until next summer, which will definitely mess with the area's retail dynamic.
Comments
how can you say that the "early reports" of a light crowd at the Target two full days before you even decided to get around to going there were (ALL CAPS) GROSSLY exaggerated, when you weren't even there?
Are you suggesting that the photos on Weds were exaggerated too?
Posted by: tony | July 29, 2007 10:51 AM
Tony, I'm willing to file "GROSSLY exaggerated" under blogosphere hyperbole. How about "not quite the case Friday" -- (neutral AND boring!)
And I'm not disputing the photos -- they showed what appeared to be a slow day at the store when Callie visited. But it was a different scene when I stop by a few days later, contrary to your site's post.
I simply feel it was a bit premature to do an obituary for said store -- Callie's post hyped-up that angle.
Perhaps what's being exaggerated are our mutual interest (and the amount of type we're giving) over a frickin' store where I stop by only once every couple months for detergent and paper towels. I'm sure we all have better things to do.
Posted by: Eugene Tong | July 29, 2007 05:46 PM