Issue date: 10/3/05 Section: Money

While wasting countless hours procrastinating on Facebook, two groups stood out to me: "Target is far superior to Wal-Mart" and "Target is far superior to Wal-Mart but I can't argue with lower prices."

It seems this argument is a commonplace in today's society. Comments like "Yeah, I love Target, but if I need Tide I'm going to go to Wal-Mart," often summarize the general attitude of discount shopping.

Wal-Mart makes me think of dirty scuffed floors, heinous florescent lighting and booming overhead announcements proclaiming some personal hygiene product, that no one wants to think about during their "pleasant" shopping trip, has been "rolled back" 23 cents.

I've always been more prone to shop at Target for the sake of my sanity, regardless of price differences.

While at Target, requests for extra team members to go to the fitting rooms or go "zone" the shoe section also are obnoxious, but in my experience, the stores are clean and the clearance racks full of odds and ends I don't need but really want. Most importantly, I will buy clothing from Target and actually wear it in public.

The significance of appearance seems to be one of the main differences between the stores.

Target commercials emphasize fun and fashion, while Wal-Mart commercials highlight its prices and everyday bargains - probably a good reason why people associate lower prices with the latter.

Two separate organizations recently compared prices at Target and Wal-Mart stores, and both found Target to be cheaper.

They claim the misconception is due to the ways each store markets itself differently, Target for quality and Wal-Mart for savings.

I agree. But, this information seemed so completely contradicting. I refused to believe it until I did it myself and my results were the opposite.

Out of the 18 random products I decided to compare, two were priced the same and 12 were cheaper at Wal-Mart.

However, almost half of the products priced less at Wal-Mart cost only one to five cents more at Target.

If it comes down to a few pennies and nickels, I have no problem shopping at the more expensive alternative, especially because it's the store I enjoy more anyway.

Actually, any difference less than a dollar didn't seem to matter too much to me, until I added everything and learned I would have saved exactly $5 shopping at Wal-Mart instead of Target.

The stench of burnt bacon from Wal-Mart's food service area almost became more appealing as I looked over the numbers again.

I doubted Target would be cheaper, but actually adding the total difference on my hypothetical shopping list made me think twice about where I shop.

For anyone on a tight budget, especially students, $5 is valuable. I remember counting out my weekends in $5 increments. But at that same time, I still can't put a price on not being miserable while I shop just to save 56 cents on a disposable camera.

Now Wal-Mart sells engagement rings. I don't care how much money a person can save, I will not put a Wal-Mart ring on my finger.

Call me a sucker, but I would rather pay for quality, or maybe Target is just telling me that.

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