Alaska Welcomes Target

Something wonderful happened to Alaskans today.....they got their very first Target store in Achorage! While this may seem like a small thing to us from the lower 48, it was a really BIG deal here in Alaska. Apparently, Alaskans have wanted Target here for years. Today was just the soft opening so I thought I’d go and check out the opening....and I have also been Target-deprived for the past month.

Now I expected it to be crowded, but this was like the holiday shopping season, like the day after Thanksgiving or better yet...Christmas Eve. Seriously. Not only was there a long, slow line going into the parking lot, but there were at least 5 security guards directing traffic once you got into the parking lot. The traffic pattern led you past 10 full rows of parked cars before you arrive at the entrance. Even then you had to drive past at least 6 more rows to get to open parking spaces. While I was waiting to park, I stopped a lady walking out of target with a full shopping cart to ask her about the checkout lines in the store. She told me that parking was worse than the checkout lines. But I thought to myself, all of these cars are going to equal a very crowded store and loooong lines.

I was absolutely right. It was just as crowded inside as the mall on Christmas Eve. Seriously. Some of the prices seemed higher than Target in the lower 48, but most seemed about the same. The sales clerk that checked me out said they had a VIP opening for Target card customers the night before and it was even more crowded but fun and they had servers walking around the store serving customers with platters of food.

But anyways I ended up buying Superman Returns, Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers DVD for $5 each. I also bought a travel pillow for my flight back to CA this weekend. Yay! I need a break from AK and this weekend is just that. :-)