A disappointing trip(s) to Target and an unplanned sunscreen review...sort of...

So over the past few weeks Target stores have been opening up, finally. Target is new to Canada and after hearing so much about the American version and how awesome it is, I was anxiously waiting for our version to open up.
I took my first browse at the one that opened up in one of our major malls. My first impression? Meh....nothing special. The prices were a bit higher than what I expected to see, and definitely seemed higher than Wal-Mart . It also didn't seem to be ready to be opened up either. The shelves seemed a little bare. I left without buying a single thing.

Then I took a look at the one closest to my house when it opened up just to see if it was any better and if they were able to fill the shelves up a bit more. Again...meh. Still disappointing. All the same food brands that you can get anywhere. And not to mention all available, and cheaper at Wal-Mart. The home decor section, nothing all that spectacular either. I picked up a few nice big fluffy bath towels for a decent price though. They seem like better quality then any I have seen at Wal-Mart. None of the departments were really any good. The cosmetics had a few brands I have never seen or heard of but other than that it was pretty mediocre as well. It actually felt a lot like being in a Zellers only a little cleaner. I went through the check out with a pretty empty cart. Very disappointing indeed.

I did give it one more go today though. But I went for a particular reason. Last night I was watching the news and they were doing a piece on sunscreen and the best ones for your money. They tested several brands, in different price ranges. Their findings were a little surprising. They found that almost all the brands tested actually provided lower levels of protection than what the labels claimed. Also, that the more expensive brands were no better than the cheaper ones. And their final verdict... the two brands that topped the list as providing the best UVB and UVA protection are...Targets own brand "Up and Up" and Hawaiian Tropic sheer touch. As I noticed the other day that our sunscreens have all expired, I needed to replace them. So I headed off again to Target to check out the prices of their Up & Up since it was rated so well.
I did another walk through and found a few small items but still nothing exciting.But I did snag the Up & Up brand sunscreen. And can you believe that it was actually a good deal? I actually finally found a good deal at Target this time. I got a 2 pack of the continuous spray (this is the one that they tested for the news story) for $9.99. That's a good deal for 2 bottles. A single can was $6.49. I grabbed the twin pak as I needed 2 (one for the trailer and one for the house) but it did save me a few bucks as well. I checked the expiry date (I only found out a few years ago that sunscreen expires, duh-how did I not know this?) and it's good until 2015 so it wont expire before we use it up.
So at least this trip to Target was not a total waste. I won't be rushing out to Target again any time soon. I ended up at Wal-Mart after my trip to Target anyways to get the rest of the stuff on my list. And of course I got everything I needed and for better prices.
Sorry Target, I think you missed the mark here. You gotta do better than that to win me over. No loyal Canadian customer here, except when I need sunscreen!

Target's brand Up&Up sunscreen rated high  on value and protection level

Hawaiian Tropic sheer touch sunscreen also rated high on value and protection level