Target enables blissful spending

Dear Target,

Today I returned a radio-controlled F-150 toy truck after my daughter contracted pink eye and was unable to attend a birthday party. I didn't have a receipt, and you took it back in the blink of an eye. This wasn't the first time I returned items without a receipt, but each time I do it, I smile. Then I turn around and shop some more. 

Maybe you realized that you could apply some casino-logic to consumer spending: A little win up-front makes it easy to part with a lot in the end. Tell me, when did you realize that an easy return policy simply encouraged people to return to your irresistible wonderland, transforming a $22.18 refund into a $145.94 sale? 

You have it figured it. Or, rather, you have me figured out. Despite the mediocre staff and the sometimes unbearable wait to check out, you've managed to delight me every time I visit. You are like the perfect spouse: dependable with the essentials yet still willing to surprise me in the most unexpected ways.

For me, it wasn't the introduction of designers products or the thoughtfully redesigned pill bottles that has everyone else talking. It was, oddly, the piñatas I discovered in the party section. I realized that you weren't simply crossing class barriers. You were bridging ethnic divides! I suddenly saw on your shelves a world of possibility, and there was a place for me in it.

Every night I sleep wrapped in one of two Thomas O'Brien sheet sets. I love these sheets, and I credit you, Target, for bringing them into my life. Who else carries this brand? No one, I think. Honestly, I don't really know so you've done a remarkable job to co-opt individual brand value for your own good. Right on. That's the mark of a big box master, and you reached the pinnacle.

This is why I don't feel guilty giving you my money. You deserve it, although I am trying to consume less and be a better person. It's hard, though; you're the ultimate enabler. But I've managed, in part because you've made the essentials sexy again. I don't need discretionary spending when I'm enthralled by bandages and hand soap. 

And then there is that easy return policy, which makes me think I'm being fiscally responsible as I spend away and blissfully feel good about it.

-joanie