My husband and I had an experience yesterday that reminded us why we don’t shop in Chico. Having already made a decision to stop shopping at Raleys because of a shoplifting incident, we found that Target has significantly degenerated since the last time we’d shopped there.
We ran out of toothpaste. We simply forgot to buy it in our last online order. It’s one of those items that is so much cheaper to buy online that the combined Chico/Butte sales tax does not make a difference. We knew it would be more expensive in Chico, but we needed a couple of other items. We’re done with Walmart because we felt they were also folding to shoplifters, raising prices and putting a lot of everyday merchandise into locking cabinets that require assistance (another increase in prices). So we headed for Target. We hadn’t been there for at least 10 years, and we were shocked at what we found.
For one thing, the entire mall is getting crappy. Just crappy. When we were kids my grandmother tried to get us to stop using that word all the time, but when she heard us saying “shitty” she told us, “just go back to crappy.” Here’s what I mean – get some sweepers in that parking lot, get rid of panhandlers, clean your storefront! If you’re going to have planters at least maintain them. And then we went inside. The biggest shock was not the dingy appearance, but the empty shelves. Some sections of the store looked as though there had been some sort of mob event.
While we were able to make a few purchases, we were not able to get all the everyday items on our list. Their grocery section was really sad. There were bare shelves in the dairy case, and the produce was high-priced and shoddy looking.
So I came home, put away my scanty purchases, and went about investigating. Yes, the tariffs have impacted those businesses, like Target, Costco and Walmart, that do a high volume of business with China. Apparently, those three businesses actually tried to negotiate with China, asking their Chinese partners to absorb more of the tariffs. The latest news is that Trump has made some gains, and tariffs are going down. We’ll see if Target recovers.
What I would like to see is American shoppers and retailers walking away from Chinese goods. If you want imported goods, you should get ready to pay. It’s not that hard to buy US made goods – the only thing we bought yesterday that was not made in the USA was bananas.
You can ask Google if your brand is made in the USA. I just found out an item I use all the time is made in Canada. And three of my favorite TV shows. I’ll have to work on that. You’re next Canada.
Chico Taxpayers Association 
“The latest news is that Trump has made some gains, and tariffs are going down.”
Just to be clear, if you go from paying $1, up to $5, but then back down to $2, you’ve still lost $1 in value. Nothing was gained here and everything is still more expensive.
yes, thanks Greg, I get that. I remember the COVID hysteria – the price of my favorite shortening, just for example, literally doubled, almost overnight. People were encouraged by our government to horde household goods and food and go into lockdown, and the major retailers took advantage. My shortening has never gone back to the old price, it’s still at least $3 more for the same container.
But right now, I’m not seeing higher prices on goods I buy. When I saw bare shelves at Target, I realized how dependent stores like Target and Walmart and Costco are on cheap China-made goods. Meanwhile they had my US-made toothpaste well in stock, and at a discount price.
News articles I gleaned from the internet confirmed my suspicions – those stores went directly to bargaining with China over who would bear the burden of the tariffs. We’ll see how that plays out. I don’t believe any of the tariffs have gone into effect, they’re still bargaining.
Remember, the price of gas in California, with Newsom’s taxes, is really what drives up our local prices.
Meanwhile, I continue to be careful what I buy, I won’t pay more than I think something is worth, and I won’t buy goods I don’t really need.