Where the cameras were

Emptiness
London, ON
March 2015
For more The Camera-themed Thematic, head here

If you live in the U.S., Target often seems to be as much a part of the retailing landscape as Wal-Mart is. Depending on your particular preferences in retail, this can be either positive or negative, and we'll leave that particular discussion for another day.

Here in Canada, Target lasted less than two years before spectacularly imploding, tucking its tail back between its legs and retreating back over the border from whence it came. It is one of the largest failures in Canadian retail history, and business schools will be studying the mind-numbing mistakes and lessons for years to come.

On a snowy day this past March, I thought I'd wander the local Target outlet before it closed for good. At the time, the store was still weeks away from its final close date, but the aisles were already bare. The electronics section, which if we're being brutally honest was already filled with tumbleweed long before the closure was announced, was particularly bleak.

I've never been particularly impressed by in-store displays like this. They seem to attract folks who couldn't be bothered to do their homework before heading to the store to pick and purchase a camera. Then again, one can probably say the same thing about the entire Target/Wal-Mart culture that now blankets the land. Well, at least it does elsewhere. Here, not so much anymore.

Perhaps that's not entirely a bad thing.

Your turn: What do you hate about shopping? Aaand...go!