A shopper believes Target is becoming more like Costco and took to social media to make the case.
TikTok user Queen Tay (@queentayshops) shared her “hot take” in a viral video that has racked up over 122,000 views and 17,300 likes.
“Will Target become a memberships store bc of customers?” text overlaid on the clip read.
In it, Tay expressed frustration with Target shoppers and argued that the store would be within its rights to implement a membership fee for entry.
“This might be a hot take, but I don’t care,” she began in the clip. “A lot of people are complaining about that new Target subscription service and thinking they’re becoming more like Costco.”
The woman added, “I don’t care ’cause, honestly, they deserve to do that.”
What Target membership is she talking about?
Months ago, Target rolled out its new paid membership program called Target Circle 360. The subscription service (which has been compared to those offered by Walmart and Amazon) costs $99 per year. It offers free same-day shipping on some items, as well as discounted prices and an extra 30 days to return items.
Tay then recorded the clothing section of the Target she was shopping in.
“What is going on?” the TikToker asked.
The clothing appeared to be strewn everywhere and extremely disorganized. This, she believes, justifies Target’s choice to charge for a subscription.
“It didn’t use to be like this in here,” she continued. “If the everyday person can’t have enough respect to just take care of a store and put things back where they found it.”
The shopper also thinks that the lack of regard for keeping a store orderly is a generational problem. She argued that “gen alpha” and older people are the most guilty of the problematic behavior.
Ultimately, the woman noted that Target 360 is, in fact, not like Costco because shoppers can still enter the store without a membership.
She said it’s a good option for those who want to avoid having to enter disorganized stores.
@queentayshops imagine clocking in to see all this mess…yeah no #target #targetcircle #costco #targetcircle360 ♬ original sound – Queen Tay | thrifty creative
In the video’s comments section, many agreed that the subscription is a great idea.
“I have target 360 and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done,” one viewer wrote. “Target used to be my safe place and now it stresses me out.”
However, many others blamed Target’s management for not hiring enough workers to tidy up.
“It’s honestly mostly because management and corporate don’t want to hire enough workers, so there isn’t anyone whose task is to clean up a section anymore,” user EM wrote.
“I think this has a lot more to do with targets management,” user _ashleyyyy440 said. “They have been cutting back on the amount of workers needed for the store. Which results in one worker being overwhelmed with all that work.”
“It’s management and corporate,” another user and former Target worker added. “They never have enough workers because they think a skeleton crew is enough. I was constantly being pulled out of my section (style) to provide back up somewhere else.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Queen Tay and Target via email and to Costco via contact form for comment.
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