Thoughts On...Valentine's Day

Love is in the air...and so is bitterness, depending on your relationship status. Valentine's Day is on Saturday, which I am sure we are ALL aware of. 

 

Those who are in love or in love with love, are counting down the days until the most romantic day of the year. Those who are single are on the bitter train and complaining about this overrated, fake holiday. And some are sweating and panicking because they have yet to make plans for their sweetheart or fear what they have planned just isn't good enough. Or aren't ready to propose.

When I was in University, I had a friend who despised Valentine's Day because of all the commercialism and he made sure everyone knew it. When he found out that it was also my birthday, he decided to make an exception and set his hatred aside- he wanted me to always have a good birthday and to always have a Valentine. So, regardless of whether or not we were single or in relationships, every year he asked me to be his Valentine and every year I said yes.  On Valentine's Day, he would send me a picture of a human heart. That's how he/we celebrated.

 

I am personally not a fan of Valentine's Day because it overshadows my birthday; This is something I've ranted about in the past and will not be doing in this post (but you can find past year's thoughts here and here).

 

I think that there are a lot of people who like the concept of this day; showing the ones you love how much they mean to you, doing something to celebrate your love, spending time with the one you love. I echo the sentiments of others; all of these actions should not be limited to one day.

Honestly, I feel, having one day of the entire year dedicated to such things results in disappointment, unnecessary pressure and stress, and expensive gifts (do you know the mark up on flowers alone???). 

 

If we picked our own day to celebrate our love, I think it would be more meaningful and special. I've never had a good Valentine's Day (mainly because I'd rather celebrate my birthday), but when I think back on happier/meaningful/romantic times in my relationships...it was getting flowers for no reason, buying my favourite chocolates (salted caramel, FYI) because he saw them when he was out, reservations at a restaurant on a Wednesday night because it's their slow night and it would be like we had the place to ourselves, opening a bottle of wine we were saving and enjoying it over mundane conversations... Those were some of the moments I felt the most loved, cared for and special. None of them happened on Valentine's Day.

Or you can fall to society's pressure and get swept up in all the traditional Valentine's Day hype...expensive flowers, expensive dinner at a hard to get into restaurant, an expensive gift, marriage proposal. So cliche, but very much expected and anticipated.

To all the singles, embrace this holiday! You can show love for your co-workers, family and friends. Send out those Valentine's from elementary school, offer everyone Hugs and Kisses (the chocolates), have a dance party- so much fun and stress free. Tons of ways to make this dreaded holiday a fun Saturday night. 

 

Self-love is also a great way to celebrate Valentine's Day. Book a spa day, read your favourite book or watch your favourite movie, binge on your favourite foods, spend the day in comfy clothes, soak in a bath, pamper and spoil yourself. 

However you decide to celebrate, or not celebrate, I hope you have a great Valentine's Day. Make it fun. Enjoy it. 

 

Love, after all, is in the air.

Opinion On...Target Canada

Target is a store that's much loved by many people. For the longest time, I would see Target purchases and brands featured on different blogs and in magazines. Shopping trips to Target in the US were always successful. So, like many Canadians I was so excited to hear that Target was coming to Canada!

Closing of Zellers (a Canadian chain similar to Wal-Mart and a store that I liked) and watching former Zellers spaces be converted to Target Stores added to the anticipation. The first Target stores in Canada were opened in March of 2013- about two years ago.

Sadly, from the beginning, Targets expansion into Canada was a let down. A number of Target stores did open prior to their projected launch dates, which is normally a good thing. Initial visits to the newly opened stores were disappointing; a lot of empty shelves...inventory hadn't arrived yet. Why open a store early if you don't have the inventory?

After a few months in business and shelves somewhat stocked with inventory- Target Canada always seemed to be in short supply of merchandise- it became clear to consumers that Target Canada was going to be different than the American stores.

The two big draws of Target (in the US) are the inventory and the prices. Target Canada did not carry the same merchandise as American stores; that in it's self is very disappointing. Brands that were exclusive to Target were not always available to Target Canada.

Even if we didn't have the same merchandise as the American Target, us here in Canada could benefit from the great price point that our American counterparts had, right? Wishful thinking! Target Canada was significantly more expensive than prices in the US; this was done on purpose to be competitive with other Canadian retailers ( This blog post nicely illustrates the difference). This did not help Target Canada's bottom line as consumers opted to shop elsewhere. If prices are the same, why stray from where you usually shop?

Target Canada also failed to have an online retail presence. Unlike the American Target, online shopping was not an option. This isn't even the biggest factor in 'online retail presence fail'.  Target Canada's website didn't even show what they had in stock. If you were on their website, they would have, for example, a handful of beauty brands listed, but not specific products or even all of the brands they carried.

Last Thursday, when it was announced that Target Canada would be closing all 133 Canadian locations (and putting 17,000 people out of jobs), there was a lot of disappointment expressed by my co-workers at our office and by my friends on Facebook and Twitter- a lot of people liked Target. No one was surprised that Target was not successful in Canada- the lack of inventory, the high price points, the limited brand selection and the lack of an online presence were all key indicators that Target Canada was not going to be a success.

A few weeks ago, it was announced that Lilly Pulitzer was working on a collection for Target. Like all Lilly fans, I was excited! Even if Target Canada wasn't closing, the Lilly for Target likely would not have been available in Canada.