Yes, I did this. Welcome to my world, where the store with the bullseye logo has just about everything I need on the regular. And, sometimes, they even have extra special fun things.
A few weeks back, I put a reminder on my calendar that that Lilly Pulitzer collection was launching on the 19th. Their stuff is just adorable. I mean, look at the ads for it!
While I’m not a HUGE Lilly fan, their line was bright, flowery, and perfect for spring/summer! I had also seen so much on the blogosphere about the offering… so much excitement for the swimwear and the accessories. They had 250 items the line, after all… something for everyone!
So, on Saturday night as I was unwinding, I read Authentically Emmie’s post which had a reminder about the line’s big release. So, as I do with my favorite fashionista, I tweeted her to see if she knew what time the online sales began.
My girl Emmie tweeted back that she already purchased a few things (WHAT?) and that I should start following the twitter hashtag #LillyForTarget for all the latest updates. Done. It was almost 11pm MST, and I was excited. There’s some sort of thrill associated with buying things you love… so I hunkered down and tried to keep up with what was happening online.
Whoa… Then, the shiz got real.
I realized I was in completely new territory. Completely unprepared. Tweets about wish lists, and being ready to virtually run, as soon as the floodgates opened… I knew these credit card toting, professional shoppers were going to leave me in their dust… and would be wearing their gold espadrilles all over town before I even got my act together.
Now, Target had “accidentally” released inventory on mobile devices, which many of my shopping buddies online had taken advantage of. Getting early access to products, and wiping out inventory before it even went public on the main website – – I did not get to take advantage of this at all. Once Target realized this was happening, they shut it down pretty quickly.
Target also announced on Twitter that the Lilly for Target collection would go live at 12am PST. So I prepped myself accordingly. I made a list of the items I specifically wanted, and typed it up on my computer so that I could copy and paste the descriptions and pull up the items fast. Timing was going to be key the strategy articles had told me…and I thought this would make me a winner!
When 1am MST rolled around, I was ready… and then nothing happened. Oh wait, then the site was available… and then it wasn’t.
I was able to order the glass wine bucket and the white kimono cover-up, but the pom pom napkins, maxi dress, and gold wedged espadrilles I wanted most had completely sold out within seconds – – Dang it!
And then… as I was searching for swimwear. The site went down. And when I say down, it went down hard… We seriously broke the internet.
Mind you, it’s about 1:30am MST at this point… and most of the ladies I was tweeting with were on the East coast, staring at 3:30am on their local clocks. Eeks!
The waiting game that ensued next was the worst… The CEO of Target indicated that he would let us know when all was back up and running. Well, he didn’t… but then, you’d have limited success and then an order would hang while being processed.
Clearly Target didn’t anticipate this online mayhem, but they should have. Especially considering that many of the items (including the entire plus size line) was only available online. Oh, social media was rocking during this time.
Another place that was rocking was eBay. Buyers purchasing in excess and then posting items that we were all trying to get at HIGHLY INFLATED prices. As if!
Eventually, around 2am, I placed an order (I thought) for some head scarves that I was interested in, a cute tank. I never got confirmation for the order, but it looked like it went through. Exhausted, many of my new “friends” online had shared the same… so, I went to bed.
Here’s the crazy part: I set my alarm for 7am to go to my local store. I wanted that maxi dress and those pom pom napkins! You know, for my upcoming vacation and for cute NTTC recipe pics.
And, what’s even crazier… I woke up, got dressed and went. When I arrived at my local SuperTarget, there were quite a few cars in the parking lot… but no one waiting in line. I had seen these pictures on Twitter of the South, but knew my Colorado town would be more tame and it was.
I gathered with about 5 other ladies (and two bambinos) outside Target for 10 minutes, and then we strolled in. Everyone was after different things… and we all wanted our Lilly pieces. Thankfully, I got all that I was looking for, and a tiny bit more:
In the end, I’m glad I did it. It was a crazy night, and I spent most of Sunday super tired, but I got the cutest stuff! I also caught a glimpse of a whole aggressive shopping culture that I didn’t even know existed. These ladies mean business… and they were super-helpful with newbie ol’ me.
I don’t think I’ll ever become a Black Friday shopper, but Pink Sunday, I conquered.
