Il Capitano tours Bakersfield's newest Target

A new Target Department store opened in Bakersfield's newest retail development site, the River Walk. The store opened on Oct. 11. Today I decided to visit the new store.

When I visited, it was a typical Saturday morning in Bakersfield. The weather was sunny, the parking lot was full and all sorts of people were gleefully entering the new Target. I was reminded about of a story by fantasy writer Fritz Leiber, Bazaar of the Bizarre. In that story, Leiber talks about a race of alien invaders called "the Devourers." Leiber describes them thus,"The Devourers are the most accomplished merchants in all the many universes-so accomplished they sell only trash." Once the Devourers set up shop on a new planet, they "sell and sell!-sell trash and take good money and even finer things in exchange."

Was Bakersfield newest Target, a front for an invasion of the Devourers? No, not really. The store is new, looks very and has all the usual products that you find in all the other Targets. This one's grocery section has been expanded to include fresh fruits, vegetables and meats, so it can take some customers away from Albertson's and Vons. It is filled with all the stuff that any red-blooded American consumer would want to buy. All the goods are reasonably priced, of average quality and made practically everywhere but the United States.

That was my attitude or prejudice as I walked through the new Target. In one instance, I saw three generations of women, mother, daughter and grandmother, pushing a shopping cart through the girls clothing section. The mother seemed to have the determined look of veteran bargain hunter, searching for the latest deal on Hannah Montana tops, shorts and matching sandals. The daughter and grandmother followed along as best they could also looking for deals. Judging from attitude of that family, not all of the shop-til-you-drop American consumers have cut up their credit cards or have been plunged into bankruptcy.

But the American consumer's day of being the engine of driving the world economy are probably over. The recent financial crash has made it clear that not only is the American consumer broke, but the money he uses to be cheap Asian manufactures is worth less and less every day. I have no doubt that Target, like Leiber's Devourers will soon be seeking new worlds to invade, by opening stores in places like Bangalore, India or Cheng Du, China.

It's easy to be smug and rail against consumerism. Fritz Leiber was doing that in 1963 when Bazaar of the Bizarre was first published. It also appears that a new Super Wal-Mart will also open in Bakersfield in the near future. But rest assure gentled reader, as a good union man, I will not set foot in the new Super Wal-Mart.

Capitano Tedeschi

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