On Target

In "Heard on the Street" today, the WSJournal calls attention to the recent outperformance of Target relative to WalMart despite decreasing same-store customer traffic, market share, and relatively weak P/E ratios.

Me, I think Target's long-term potential (like that of, say, Williams Sonoma) will be hampered by its association with blue state metrosexuality of the boom era going forward, Obama victory notwithstanding. Sam Walton's brand (or lack thereof) is more malleable and focusable on the bare bones of subsistence, which is what everybody's thinking.

Similarly, I'm still waiting for the arrival of the style equivalent of early nineties meat loaf for our era. I see high-school girls out looking like early thrift store Madonna (very much a product of Volcker-era austerity) and I see thrift and consignment stores a-perkin, but I'm looking for more.