Liberty of London at Target: Don’t Try to Hide in the Back Room!

There has been a lot of buzz on the Internet and Twitter about Liberty of London at Target being sold out, or unavailable. However, some items are listed as available at Target stores when you use the “find item” feature on Target.com.  I decided to give the finder tool of Target.com  a little reality check, because, yes you guessed it, I am a Liberty Lurver.  Not a Target lover, a lover of the amazing and historic Liberty of London prints.  I really wanted to get some of the Liberty decorative pillows, particularly a pair of the above pictured pillows with the pretty poppies and raspberry trim and backing.  Being an intrepid shopper, I quickly discovered that they were all sold out online. As a last resort,  I decided to try the “find the item” in store feature on Target.com to see if I could possibly locate one in a store near me.  Eureka, the finder tool told me that the item was available at a nearby store, Target Gardena. So off I went to Gardena after work to see if I could find those pillows.

Although The Consumerist recently reported that Target brick and mortar and Target.com are not the same company, and therefore the left hand of Target.com doesn’t really know what the right hand of Target stores are doing, I found that the inventory report of Target.com was correct.  When I arrived at the Gardena store, a check at the customer service desk showed that the items were available, but they were in the stock room, not on the shelves.  Um, could this be why the Liberty items appear to be all gone :)? Since the Target.com tool was correct on the store’s inventory report, I had to rally the recessionista shopping instincts and find a Target employee willing to help me locate these pillows in the stock room. Although I waited at the customer service desk for help with my pillow request, help never arrived.  So, being determined to get my Liberty on a budget, I started roaming the store with my item print-outs from Target.com, and looking for some customer service.  Happily, I found a lovely Target employee named Margie who was willing to help me track those pillows like a blood hound.  Now, we all know that for the price, we can’t expect Target to be Nordstroms.   However, lucky for me, I did find an employee who was willing to deliver good old fashioned face to face, customer service. Margie took the time to get the Liberty of London pillows out of the “back room” and bring them to me so I could purchase them.  It took a little while for her to locate them, open some boxes and pull them out, but she did it.  I’m writing this to tell a simple story.  Don’t give up if you are looking for a budget item that you love. Although, the discount stores are not known for five star customer service, if you are persistent, you may be able to find that service + the discount.  I know at Marshalls and TJ Maxx, there are more items in the back room that a store employee can help you locate if you ask for help. As Target-Addict has said, ” If you’re really in love with one of the Liberty of London items, and you can confirm online that your store has it, then make a Target employee find it for you!” Since you won’t find Liberty of London pillows anywhere else for $16.99, its worth speaking up in store and asking for a little service. After all, you’re spending your hard earned money.  Don’t give up on the quest for classic items like Liberty at an affordable costs.  In my opinion, Liberty of London at Target is not all gone yet.

Although, I had to drive a few miles out of my way, and wait for awhile for the Liberty of London pillows to be located, my efforts have been rewarded. The pillows are the perfect compliment to my raspberry bedding. They are simply adorable and very feminine. So thank you Margie, for finding these in the back room. Remember readers, if the Target.com website says they have them in stock, but they are not out on the shelves, ask for help.  They just might not yet be on display.  I’m very happy with my pillows tonight, and I’m glad I waited.  I don’t think I would find them anywhere else. Exercise the power you enjoy as a consumer and ask the store to help you do business with them.