Missing Missoni

Last week Target and Missoni perpetrated a marketing coup on the American public. I’m late to the game in commenting on it, but then, I didn’t wait outside the doors of the Watertown Target at 7 am to be able to grab odd-sized Missoni boots to sell on eBay. I’m not that type. So I’m writing this now.

But I do love pop cultural moments, and this was one. Especially when we received a special invitation from Miss Patti, who has been awarded black belts in several shopping arts, to attend to the Missoni moment. Unfortunately for the acquisition side, the moment was a Tuesday morning, which meant first training in T’ai Chi Ch’uan at the gym for this ageless group of zig-zag seekers. By the time we arrived shortly before 11 am, the end caps had been laid bare to the point that Miss P. hoped they had not yet been stocked. But the display of one left rubber rain boot (size 5) and the gloating of an ash-blond woman who had seven Missoni shoe boxes in her cart told the frenzied tale.

As expert marketing strategists, Target had scattered the Missoni merchandise across the entire store. “You just have to look for it,” was the bored reply from clerks we queried. What we found was one colorful bed linen bundle that had been dumped on a random shelf, and a display of boring beige bed bundles that had the feel of a Motel 6 bed spread that had seen too many washings. Oh, and we stumbled on several items that had nothing to do with the mission but we picked up as long we were there. Congratulations, Target, win-win on your part.

Thankfully, a shopper we accosted who had a delightful Missoni rug not only told us where she found it but followed us there to make sure we got to the right place. In true Miss Patti fashion, Madame Kim and I were enlisted to consider all of the remaining candidates. A rug was chosen and a friend was detoured from the disappointment of Missoni to an al fresco lunch. And the band played on.

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