Well, I managed to catch the 90% off Christmas sale at Target by sheer luck.  I love going and usually I'm able to learn when the sale is going to be by watching some online sites, but this year it was hit and miss. I found out last Monday night that a Target in another state had gone to 90%, and was a bit alarmed to think the Targets in Arizona might have gone to 90% the same day. Thankfully they didn't go 90% until Tuesday, and I was able to take off work for a couple of hours and drive to a few nearby my job.

What a disappointment though!  I guess when you think about it, finally Target did a good job of ordering product, because they had just enough. Well, I don't know if they had “just enough” maybe they were totally out of wrapping paper on December 22nd?  All I know is in the past four years I have had a blast shopping at Target after Christmas. I try to go to four or five stores and I'll be able to pick up hundreds of cards, wrapping paper, bows, Christmas decorations. At a fraction of the cost!   My employer sends Christmas cards out to our clients (senior citizens) and we give out about 800 cards. Being a non-profit, getting our Christmas cards for 90% off is a great savings.  I also buy Christmas wrap for coworkers.

The only downside to doing so much shopping at Target is somehow I end up spending around $100 (this is for $1000 worth of retail product) and I don't usually get reimbursed much money.  Last Christmas, I was feeling so tired and worn out that several people took wrapping paper and bows, and owed me several dollars, but I never collected!  And they never mentioned that they owed me money.  It wasn't more than $5 each, but still that adds up, especially when it's five or six people.

I did manage to find enough of one style of card that was elegant / professional looking enough to use for my husband's business customers for next year's holiday. I have enough cards bought in past years to send to our personal friends and family. And enough wrapping paper to last for several more years. I was hoping to beef up my stock on bows and ribbon, but I probably have enough to last through to next year, at least.

So this year I only spent about $400. One Target I went to I bought only ONE item. Gift card holders that should have been $0.49 at the clearance price. They rang up at $4.99. The cashier looked at me and said some things are ringing up clearance, some aren't. In the past, the cashier would have adjusted the price.  I didn't want the gift card holders bad enough to put up a fuss. I'd also bought a pack of hairpins that were on a clearance rack, with no price and they were $3.19!  I am NOT paying $3.19 for 50 bobby pins!

I would say the condition of Target in regards to our economy is very showing in their Christmas shopping.  I would imagine they ran out of a lot of product before the holiday even arrived. This may have been disappointing to a lot of people.

I think it's very interesting that we can take a look at how much product a company has leftover (in comparison to other years) and realize how that reflects the state of our economy.

Have you ever done Target 90% Christmas shopping on purpose?  Did you go this year?  Do you agree with my assessment?