Fashion

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

By  | 

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.

Share

Since 2008, Mary Hall has been the author of The Recessionista Blog, which is read by thousands of regular readers in over 160 countries. An internationally recognized expert on the art of the living the good life for less, she has been a commentator on local, national, and international radio and TV shows. Her advice has been featured in over 2,000 media outlets, including The New York Times, Reuters, Life & Style magazine, ABC News, NBC News and now The Huffington Post, among many others.

5 Comments

  1. Katherine Malone

    March 17, 2010 at 1:41 pm

    I had similar experience with my new lamps there last week, the shelves were empty but a (15 min) wait was worth it when they found them in the back room for me! You just gotta ask, sometimes! Very cute pillows, glad you found them!

  2. Melanie

    March 17, 2010 at 3:33 pm

    this is why target has those scanners placed throughout the store – so you can ascertain whether more items (or different sizes are back in the stock room).

    scan a tag or barcode and it will tell you what the price is and store-room availability.

    ive asked for items from the back room maybe 5 times and each time a target team member has found them for me.

    i thought everyone knew about this!

  3. drella's

    March 17, 2010 at 10:02 pm

    thanks for the tip! drove a bit out of the way to the carson store and just scored on the garla pillows that sold out on line less than 24 hours after notifying me they were available. also found the umbrella that my friend wanted, alas in pink rather than blue but yea! grabbed the last yellow duffle. very happy liberty buyer!!!

  4. 365 Fashion Rehab

    March 17, 2010 at 10:25 pm

    Good for you! And those pillows really are marvy…
    I wish home decor wasn't included in our rules & regs. (sigh)
    Love, P

  5. Target-Addict

    March 18, 2010 at 12:37 am

    Hey there! The other tip (I'm not sure if I saw it in one of your reader comments or on Racked.com) is to try the “off the beaten path” Target stores. It sounds like many of the Target stores in or near metropolitan areas and major cities are already sold out on many items in the Liberty line. However, the stores that are farther out in the 'burbs seem to have a greater supply.
    BTW: I went back today to the one Target store in my area that actually had a supply of the men's shirts and ties…only to see it had completely sold out! All the women's stuff was still in good supply, but the men's stuff was all gone, save for a couple pairs of boxers.