I literally laughed when I heard that Lilly Pulitzer was collaborating with Target. Not because I'm a Lilly snob, but as a veteran design collaboration launch shopper, I knew that:
1. Target wasn't going to be ready for the amount of interest
2. Online wasn't an option and the Target site was going to crash
3. Nothing was going to make typically polite ladies lose their minds like Lilly at Target prices
4. Resale on eBay was going to be insane
Well, Lilly launched online last night and in stores this morning, and so far, those predictions are all on point. Fortunately, I exercised all of my shopping muscles and had a solid game plan.
1. Do not attend the Lilly event in Philly. Instead, I drove to my hometown and dealt with a line of only 30 or so people rather than 300.
2. Create a must have shopping list and only get those items. My must haves were the jumpsuits, the blue shift dress and one of the high waisted bikinis.
3. Research! Lilly had a pop up shop in Bryant Park prior to the launch that sold out and was covered thoroughly by bloggers. I had a pretty good read on fit going into this morning.
How it went: I arrived early and there were already about 15 cars in the parking lot. Nobody had formed a line outside yet. By the time I threw my car in park, a girl was walking towards the door. So I was second in line. Not too shabby!
About ten minutes into the wait, Target store employees began taking photos of the 30 people in line (and if they thought that line was bad, I know people who were in lines of 300 people). Then an employee ran through Target collab's version of a flight attendant announcement. No running. No fighting. We will kick you out. It would be funny, but that's what happens at these things. At 8 a.m., doors opened and insanity ensued. There were only two racks of clothing. I grabbed xs and s options in three items (thank god they had the jumpsuits...almost no dresses and zero swimsuits) and beelined to the fitting room just as the racks emptied to nothing. More than one disappointed woman with empty hands audibly muttered, "what just happened?"
My haul:
There were definitely people at Target only there to buy for resale. Special shout out to the lady in the "Norry" tshirt and baseball hat talking on her phone about how dumb Lilly is while pushing this cart (if she didn't look like she could take me down with her pinky, I would have taken her photo):
And crazy resale is already in full effect:
(in store for $44)
I am thrilled with what I was able to get and was even able to chat with my friend's mom, who I hadn't seen since high school graduation. While there was probably better inventory at a bigger store, I feel good about my decision to small town PA the launch and hope nobody pays eBay prices to snag an item. Hope you all did well too!
