Target CBD Becoming a Friendly Store?

I shopped at the Target store in the CBD ever since it first opened its doors in 1994. It was a Coles Fossey store before that. I never quite enjoyed shopping at Target CBD but had to because it was the only one of that kind of store in the city until 2003. You should have seen how delighted I was when Big W opened at QV.

What was so unpleasant about the Target CBD store? Well, I absolutely couldn’t stand the security guards they used to hire. They made me feel like I had committed a crime just for entering the store. I may be a poor nanny but frugal me has a tendency to not enter a store unless I am willing to part with my cash and purchase some things. I definitely do not STEAL. Do not get me wrong. I don’t mind the employees hired to greet shoppers at the entrances of all Target stores and neither do I mind having my bags searched when I leave the store without purchasing anything because the item advertised in the catalogue was not in stock. Big W at QV has employees that greet and check shoppers as well but they don’t have scary security guards that turn a simple shopping trip into a journey to hell.

From 1995 – late 2003 / early 2004, they had a security guard who annoyed me terribly. I understood he was hired to watch out for shop-lifters but his attitude really sucked. (Sorry for the terrible language.) He stalked customers, including me. I didn’t then and I still do not understand now, why he targeted me. He would appear within minutes of me entering the store. I have seen him in action when I was not the victim. He would stalk almost like a wild animal prowling for their prey. He must have earned plenty of praise from his employers because I have seen police called in to take away shop-lifters he caught. I could just visualise him smiling like a Cheshire cat. Urggh!

From around 1999 – 2003, the security guard mentioned above acquired a sidekick. The younger bloke was quite cute actually. He reminded me of an actor on CSI Miami. The two worked hard to catch plenty of shop-lifters. This Robin wannabe would radio him whenever he saw me and within a minute or two, I would find Batman either hiding behind some shelves/racks or conveniently walking in my direction. It was downright annoying.

How did he come to ‘hate’ me? (Yes. I am aware that Hate is a big bad word.) Well, I think he began to focus on me when I distracted him from a successful kill many years ago. I was checking out some books when a little boy came to me crying because he was lost. Now, I do not know why the boy approached me as I wasn’t even dressed as Mary Poppins. As I wasn’t the adult in charge of this little boy, I thought I would just hand him over to someone from the store. If this happened on the street, I would hand the child over to a policeman (that is if I can find one). As this happened inside a store, I thought I would hand him over to either a store clerk or another employee. Guess who was right around the corner? Batman the fearless security guard! So, I took the child to him and explained what had happened. It was only then I realised that he was busy stalking or watching a dude at the CD section. He turned around and barked “Deal with it.” I told him that’s not my job and left the boy sobbing next to him. Luckily the boy’s family appeared soon after. They thanked him like a hero but he was not impressed at all. That’s how it started. After that incident, he never let me shop in peace again.

I saw less of this nasty bloke from around 2004. Gradually another tubbier security officer took over. My friends and I nicknamed this guy teletubbie. He was slightly friendlier but still stalked or watched me just the same. Some of my friends reckoned that he was actually a friend of mine that I was trying to hide from. By then I didn’t care if all of the security officers at Target CBD had a problem with me. I didn’t have to shop there as often anymore and if I really had to buy something from Target, I would travel all the way to the Target stores in either Malvern Central or Highpoint. Big W opened its doors at QV in September 2003. In terms of shopping, Big W and Safeway were a big welcome to a poor nanny like me.

I did visit the Target CBD store twice lately. The first time I went there was a few weeks ago, the store was undergoing the first stage of a series of renovations. I didn’t see teletubbie. In fact, I didn’t see any security officers. The lady manning the Little Bourke St entrance saw that I was collecting a catalogue ending that day offered me a new catalogue advertising items on discount starting from the next day. She was warm and cheerful. I was there again last Thursday, after work, to get a friend a Gift Card for her birthday. I didn’t want to go there at first but this friend really loves shopping at Target. As I enter the store, I looked for catalogues again but there were none left. The greeter immediately offered me a copy but then realised that he didn’t have any either. To my surprise, he offered to go to the other end of the store to get me a copy! This has never occurred to me in the past. Is Target trying to score Brownie points? With the warm welcome, I decided to look around the store. I saw a security officer downstairs in the basement. He was just walking around like a normal person. He wasn’t preying like a monster.

I don’t think all shoppers should be treated rudely by nasty security guards. I am aware that they are many shop-lifters around but it is unfair to judge shoppers for no reason. (Yes, I do absolutely believe that they had no reasons to see me as a THIEF.) Shops should really utilize the use of surveillance cameras more in this day and age to give shoppers a chance to shop in peace. Of course machines may have their limits. In that case, hire security officers who do their jobs and are yet courteous to shoppers.

As a nanny, I am police checked. As a shopper, I am not police checked when I enter a store. Funnily, one greeter from Target CBD commented that I am a honest shopper because I always presented my bag for search on my way out. Honestly, I would rather go through Airport style checks if I am requested to if it gives them a peace of mind and an opportunity for me to shop without judgement.