My cart filled with four bags of items outside the now-open Target StoreOnce upon a time, back in the day, not so long ago, in the history of San Pedro, there was no Target Store open.
All that changed at 8:00 AM today as the much awaited department store began welcoming customers.
I arrived about 9:45 AM and found an almost empty parking lot. I think that was the last time we will be able to view that few number of cars in the lot during operating hours for quite a long time to come.
All the employees were friendly and greeted me and I responded with smiles, greetings, welcoming, and that I was glad they were there.
By 10:15 when I checked out, the parking lot was fuller, there were more folks in the store and there almost was a line in the register area.
It is hoped that customers price check food items before they purchase them as I found some prices to be higher than what can be found, even at Ralph's.
12-pack of cans of Coke products are priced at $5.49 each, which I feel is higher than other stores, but you may be paying for the convenience of being able to shop for food, clothing, housewares, electronics, toys, tools, and many other items under one roof and with just one stop.
My receipt totaled $66.90 for the items purchased.
I also spent $50.00 on two gift cards for two family birthdays. Please don't spoil the surprise for Phil and Andrew.
Heck, I might have purchased the first two gift cards sold at the San Pedro store.
Gone are the days we may need to travel to Carson or Torrance to visit a Target Store. There is some gas savings to go along with the time we will save.
Now PLEASE, for those of you cutting through my neighborhood to get to the new store, keep it slow and watch for vehicles exiting driveways.
Good luck, have fun, and allow yourself the fortune of having a discount department store back in San Pedro that we should enjoy for years and years to come.
2 comments:
You should be ashamed of yourself for thinking that having a Target Store is better than the ball field for all the kids to play. How lucky your kids will be to tell their kids that they used to play at Target.
Thank you StacyE, for your comment.
Eastview Little League has a 'good run' on the site it occupied on land it didn't own, didn't pay fair market rent on, and didn't create savings to find and buy land for their continued use.
I am sure when you played baseball at Eastview Little League, you enjoyed the smell of fresh baked good just like I did.
It is truly unfortunate that so many kids have been used by their parents and others in a continuing 'drama' to find a permanent home for Eastview Little League on land that league owns, pays fair market rent to use, or cand find for another 45 years.
I hope we all can put our heads together and find a way to have Eastview Little League stay in San Pedro for kids and parents to enjoy. We certainly need to keep kids involved in sports and community activities.
Eastview Little League did not own the land that was used for so many years.
Eastview Little League didn't pay fair market rent for the land they used.
Eastview Little League did not appear to have a savings plan that would have allowed them to purchase some land in the area.
Eastview Little League did not consider the very important question of: What if the bakery closed and the land was sold, what would we do?
Years went by after the bakery closed when Eastview Little League continued and almost free ride in using land that was not theirs.
Even when plans were announced to build the Target, Eastview Little League was assisted in an almost unbievable way by some pretty great folks in OUR community.
Now the management of Eastview Little League has made 'a pact with the devil' in accepting to move to the Ponte Vista site, with "no strings attached".
Well, if a number of condos are ever constructed such that Bob would actually provide the ball fields, a huge number of members of OUR community would have to deal with the negative effects for generations to come.
Also, it is thought that Target will benefit the local economy even though it will have a negative effect on some downtown businesses.
Here is a thought.
When businesses close in downtown San Pedro and the value of the land goes down, how about Eastview Little League buying enough land in downtown to build its ballfields so that everybody wins.
Eastview Little League would be using its new land anyway it wishes, more kids from Rancho San Pedro would be able to be involved in baseball closer to home, the once blighted area (where the ballfields would stand) would become beautiful having pristine fields on them, there would be permanent fields not subject to the whims of others, there would be more business opportunities for families to enjoy being closer to them, and other opportunities I can't think of right now.
If there are '600' families that utilize Eastview Little League each year, then that number is trivial compared to the number of families that will find at least some benefit to having a Target so close by their home.
Personally for my family, the Target is actually a bad thing in terms of having so many more cars drive by our driveway when we are attempting to go in or out of it.
If and when you visit Target, please look at the folks who work there and note that they are a part of families from all over the area, including San Pedro.
These good folks probably didn't have jobs to help buy their kids equipment to play baseball, but now they might.
Incidently, my kids did not grow up in San Pedro, but they both are excellent athletes in their chosen sports.
Nobody "used to play at Target" as the comment suggests.
Children used to play on ballfields almost donated by a generous family, for about 45 years.
I contend that Eastview Little League had a pretty good run where it was, did not prepare for the future, and now has members begrudging something that benefits so many more area residents.
MW
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