Missoni for Target Mania: Pricey Designer Italian Fashion Reaches the Masses, Crashes Website

Twitter and Facebook were abuzz yesterday as friends (and celebs) tried helping each other locate a Target store that had at least one item from the coveted, can’t-get- your-hands-on Missoni for Target pieces in stock.

After standing in line for three and a half hours waiting to get into the Missoni for Target pop-up store at Byrant Park in New York, I knew that it was imperative to have a plan in motion on Sept. 13, which has been dubbed by fashion insiders as Black Tuesday.

Being the shopping connoisseur that I am, this writer was strategic. After I checked the Target website at the stroke of midnight … then again at 2:30 a.m. ET… and was unable to do any shopping, I knew that I would more than likely have to make a trip to the store. I tried one more time at 7:50 a.m. ET and as fate would have it, the selections were now live and available on the website. I made my first selection and the image of a bathing suit was static on my screen for well over five minutes. I gave up. It was getting close to store opening, which is 8 a.m., and I contemplated (quickly) which Target to hit first.

By the time I arrived at a metro Atlanta-area Target along the 285 perimeter, there was a quiet frenzy inside; sounds laughable. One-third of the merchandise had already disappeared from the racks. I grabbed a buggy and made my way around the racks, making my apparel selections in at least two sizes, and then headed to the luggage section. I grabbed some socks and tights on the way to the fitting room. I met a fellow shopper named Dina, who I chatted it up with in lingerie. She shared that she had “just left a store outside of the perimeter” and when she “arrived at 8:30 a.m., they’d sold out of everything.”

Once I made my selections and picked through the clothes that shoppers left behind, I headed to checkout and the selections were by this time — skimpy. The salespeople had no plans to restock and they had no idea what the next move would be because they’d never seen anything like it.

When I arrived at work, yes, I missed a couple hours in the office, Target.com read, “We are suddenly extremely popular. You may not be able to access our site momentarily due to unusually high traffic. Please stay here and we’ll try to get you in as soon as we can!”

Target also apologized to shoppers via Twitter: “We understand your frustrations. We’ve reached out to the appropriate teams and they’re working to get it fixed.” With most of the items being “out of stock”service is still spotty today, but the commercials are still in rotation, leaving shoppers frustrated.

During an interview on Wednesday morning, Target’s VP of Communications, Dustee Jenkins, confirms that  more items are on the way to stores, but advises disappointed shoppers to “keep checking” your local store “early and often” to get your hands on this limited-edition collection. –yvette caslin