Missoni Craze Hits In Full Force At Target Stores
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The rush was on at Target on Tuesday to get limited-time only merchandise from the designer Missoni.
It doesn't sound like a big deal, but the demand online crashed Target's web site for hours and stores sold out in no time.
"This Missoni is crazy for Target. I work in an office across the street and I walked by at lunch time and the place was packed," said customer Nicki Patnaude.
"I thought the store opened at 8 a.m., but it was 7 a.m. and there was nothing left when I got here," said customer Lindsay Carrier.
Call it "Black Friday" in mid-September. The "Missoni Madness" was a limited time collection that featured more than 400 items across the downtown Minneapolis Target store. When the doors opened at 7 a.m., eager customers rushed in to buy Missoni linens, bedding, dishes and even a bicycle.
"We were receiving calls from across the world.Brazil,Tokyo-we want the bicycle. The response is truly unprecedented," said Dustee Jenkins, Target's vice president of communications.
Target's web site even felt the wrath. It crashed this morning due to the high volume of customers seeking anything Missoni.
"I went on the website, it had some major issues. It just kind of kept refreshing and refreshing," said customer Lindsay Carter.
For Carter, persistence paid off. She stuck with the website and in the end came out with pretty much everything she wanted.
"It was a stressful couple of hours, but I ended up getting a few pillows for my living room and a cardigan so I was pretty excited," said Carter.
But others weren't as lucky. By Tuesday afternoon, Missoni merchandise was popping up on Ebay for much more than it was selling at Target. They were Items that for a few quick minutes, occupied many of Target's now-empty shelves.
"We found some socks which are pretty cool. Yeah, I'm grateful we were able to snatch up what's here," said Patnaude.
Target officials said the Missoni rush was felt at stores across the country. They said that some merchandise will trickle in the rest of the week, but they don't have any plans to re-stock their shelves with Missoni. They also advise customers to check Target.com to see if some items are still in stock.
