Target: I love you but...

I agree! You can't fit much in those carts, especially when both kids want to ride in it.

I love the double seat carts. We have them at Sam's which used to be BJ's WholeSale and then something else, anyway, they have double carts and are a lifesaver. Plus, their carts are pretty damn roomy. I would suppose they have to be, when you are buying in bulk.

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I will also add that the carts at Walmart are WAY TO SMALL! In the last two years they have gotten SMALLER. When I asked an associate why the carts are so small, they informed me it was to accomodate the mechanical cart pusher machine. So I have to suffer with my small cart so an associate doesnt have to make two trips outside to get carts?? That doesnt make sense. I was there last night and I bought a storage tote, easter basket, new booster seat for the kitchen table & a bunch of other stuff. My husband was following me holding items that wouldnt fit. Thank goodness I didnt have my toddler. Where would I have put him???

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The problem is, it seems like every time I go to Target I'm buying in bulk--my cart seems to get just as full just as fast with just as many BIG packages as it would in Sam's.

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I have 2 small children. Neither are really old enough to walk beside me. They do have the "special multi-child" shopping carts, but you are lucky if you can find one, and then you lose space. I usually put the preschooler in the basket, crowd crap in around her, and heaven help me if it's a big shopping trip. Which you know it is, bc at Target and Wal-mart, you always end up getting WAAAAAAAAy more than was on your list! You'd think they would get a clue!

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Hey Guys - as a fellow Target shopper, let me try to help you out. If you have a big item, look for a Target team member (or, if one is not nearby, use one of the service phones). At your request, they will carry a large item like a car seat, bike, furniture, lamp, whatever, to the front of the store. They will tell you which lane they will leave it at. When you get to the front of the store, you simply tell your cashier that you have a large item waiting at Lane X, and what it is. They should then summon someone to bring the item, and if you ask nicely, they will even help you get it to your car.
When I was pregnant, anytime I had to get something heavy, like softener salt, I simply asked them if there was someone who could help me, and they always obliged.
It WILL slow you down - sometimes you have to wait for someone to go to the other lane to get the thing, or help you to your car. BUT - sometimes a little extra time is worth it.

ALSO - did you know that if they are out of something (like a car seat - we needed two and they were being clearanced, but the model was on the shelf), you can have someone scan the shelf tag, and go with you to customer service, and customer service can print a list of nearby Target stores that have the item. I have even had them call the store I planned to go to and hold those items for me. (Note that I have noticed that sometimes the team members don't think to offer this - and I'm not sure it works on little things, but it does work on the bigger items).

Although I work at their corporate headquarters, when I am in the store, I am just a shopper (my job doesn't deal directly with the stores) - so I just try to think "Hey, as a Target shopper, what do I need?" Then, I think "Hey, as someone who wants the company to do well, what should I be asking them for"? Voila - if I need help, I ask for it.

I hope this is helpful (and hopefully unbiased) information.
Good luck.

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Elsimom, I love Target in general but the team members at my store are worthless. They wouldn't lift a finger to help their grandmother. If I did the things you suggest they would either laugh at me or act like I was the biggest pain in the butt they ever met.

I know this isn't the case at all locations since I've been to other stores with great service. I'd really like to trade staffs with one of them!

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Also, when i used to go to Target when my youngest was a baby I'd try to snap his car seat into the front of the cart like i could at all other stores - and it doesn't fit! At all.

I've seen SO many women struggling with that!

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Speaking of Target carts and cartseats, the backs on the front basket where a child sits don't work w/ the Graco car seat/carrier that my 3 month old is in. I have to hold the car seat in place b/c it's too precarious in the Target cart. The bar-to-seatback distance is also too short for the car seat/carrier. My choice is either having him practically vertical or to have his head lower than his feet.

The best solution has been to have my infant in his Baby Bjorn and my toddler in the cart. One advantage of the Target carts is that they're plastic, not metal, and aren't so cold. We use a cart cover on the seat when my daughter rides anyway but sometimes we forget it in the dryer at home.

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Commenter #5 said it. Our local Target has always been willing to take articles to the front for me. I use their red phone if I don't see someone. Never had any problems.

I don't believe local stores set national policy. Maybe Kim's store needs a wakeup call.

If I have a second person with me (like my husband) on major shopping days, we use two carts. He's there; he might as well push too.

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I used to get SO MAD because the carseat wouldn't fit in the front of the cart!
I see moms trying to get theirs to fit and i just tell them it won't. arg.

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I definitely agree that carseats do not fit in the carts. It isn't just Graco either. Peg Perego seats don't fit worth a damn. I would have to put the kids in sideways. Or in the basket and then just hope that I didn't get that much stuff.

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I've had good and bad days with the Target team members. But on a day when I needed help lifting items off the shelf, or carrying heavy boxes to the car, they were really great. I just had to ask. And yes, it did involve a little extra waiting, but overall, it wasn't bad. I love Target.

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I've always wondered why they don't put foot brakes on shopping carts like on strollers. I'm always worried that the cart is going to roll away from me when I get it to the car.

I agree about Target team members' varying degrees of help. Sometimes they are really great, sometimes they are woefully unhelpful. Other times they are nowhere to be found.

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If you have any ideas for shopping with twins, I'm all ears! Right now we're a little limited, since one can be strapped in the front of the cart, the other one sits IN the cart (when she's not standing) and my purchases are limited to whatever I can wedge in the cart around the one sitting in the cart. Which have to be things she won't open or eat or we have endless trouble. Not fun!

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You're so right! Even worse, with an infant, try pushing the Target shopping cart packed with large items on one hand and push the stroller with the other hand. And I totally do not want to wait around until someone shows up to help me carry stuff to the front. Well, I guess that puts me in a lose-lose situation, huh? ;-)

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At my Target in San Jose, CA they have carts outfitted with the double seats (attached to the front of a regular cart). They don't have a ton of them, but I've never had a hard time getting one when I need it.

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I've taken my twins and preschooler shopping at Target by myself. I push the twins in the double stroller and pull a cart with my preschooler in it. I'm nuts.

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Your kidding me, your Target has large aisles? The Targets I frequent have skinny aisles that two carts can barely squeeze through in passing. I have seen those carts that have the attachment on the front for two kids but there is no way I will push one of those montrosities (sp?), there is no way it would fit down an aisle.

It would be nice if they had some type of service where a Target employee could take large cumbersome boxes up front to a holding area until a person is ready to check out.

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Only once in my experience of going into stores with my twins has there been a double cart available, and it was a small grocery store in rural Michigan. Never once in the Big Box stores! Somebody always has them first.

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Maybe I should add that I've seen lots of times when people put their ONE kid in the cart built for two kids, so it's not available to people (like me) who really need it. Or the seat belts are broken, and my kids NEED those seat belts.

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