Target — Local services in Stamford

This place is kind of a mess. From the moment one enters the building from the ground floor, one has to scratch one's head as there is a lobby with two elevators. The elevators are like the elevators in the 190th St. station in NYC-- cavernous and slow. Inside, one is presented with buttons including P2, T1, and T2 with no description of what they are. The store itself is built above parking levels, so to get to the store, one has to go up a couple of stories. Once on the Target store level, the doors open at both ends of the elevator cab which usually leads to confusion.

Once inside, there are usually no hand baskets for those of us buying more than one item but not enough to justify using a cart. The store is usually in a state of moderate disarray. There are aisles full of items locked behind plexiglass that require a sales associate with a key to open. There are call buttons in the aisles that purport to summon sales associates but don't. Most of the sales associates don't have keys to open the plexiglass cabinets. If you want to buy something like detergent or toothpaste, I would suggest just getting it from Amazon rather than popping by this store.

The selection is pretty basic. If you aren't sure that this specific Target will have what you are looking for, I would suggest going elsewhere. If you want potato chips, a frozen pizza, bread, soda, basic home decor, pet food, batteries, etc., you may want to try your luck here.

The checkout is another trial as no more than half of the self-checkout kiosks are ever working and there are usually only two cashiers working the registers. As a result, the lines tend to be long and people will hold places in line for people who are finishing up their shopping.

This store has a Starbucks in it and, though I have never visited it, I have been told that the service there is similarly a hot mess.

Avoid unless you really...

“Charming… but also mildly possessed.”

We came in around 10:45pm with our Shih Tzu–Maltese, just planning to grab a couple things. Right away, the staff were acting… off. Two of them near the carts were murmuring about “what happens after 11” until they spotted us and quickly changed the subject.

First clue something was wrong: Bullseye, the giant Target dog statue, was tilting his head at us — not in a cute mascot way, but in a “I know your secrets” way. Our dog stared back like they were having a silent conversation, and frankly, I’m not sure who won.

We wandered into the dollar section and noticed the Halloween rubber ducks were clearly alive. One in particular (dressed as Mickey) rolled its eyes at us. Another muttered something about “tourists.” My dog perked up at this and seemed to side with the ducks.

In Seasonal, the unicorn scratch art kits were bickering with the dinosaur ones — loud enough that I swear a passing employee sighed and said, “Not again.”

The shopping carts were huddled together in tight rows, whispering like high school cliques. We tried to pass them and one squeaked, “Watch it, sandals,” at me. (I was, in fact, wearing sandals.)

By the time we got to the elevators, I swear the red walls pulsed slightly. An employee politely directed us out but added, “You really don’t want to be here after closing.”

We left both relieved and enchanted. This Target is incredible in the daylight, but maybe don’t linger too close to midnight unless you’re ready for full Night at the Museum… Target edition. We’ll be back — probably earlier in the day, when the ducks are...

Update review 2023: This Target has slowly been getting worse in nearly all respects. It is a unfortunately a necessity for many as it's the only grocery store in downtown Stamford, yet the groceries are often widely out of stock (I'm talking entire shelves at times). There are checkout lines every time I go, despite open registers, indicating understaffing. They have placed many skincare products behind security doors so you need a (often hard to find) associate to unlock just to buy a $7 lotion, which makes me not want to shop here anymore. Moreover, despite the fact that this store's layout isn't particularly conducive to it, they do "curbside" pickup in the garage which means the poor employees have to cart massive orders down several floors in an elevator, load them into customers' cars. It is the worst implementation of curbside pickup I've ever seen at a Target (I know, I used to work at one doing this exact job) and you can see it in the enployees' faces.

The parking should be free/validated if you purchase a certain amount from Target, just like restaurants in many places. Instead, you must pay every time you visit.

Original review 2017: I love Target and given there isn't a Walmart in Stamford, this is great. But paying for parking isn't fun, nor is having a...