As long as it's all legit, I think it's great. Besides, how is it different from the stuff Costco has sold for years?

why do people need to buy prestige when they're buying a really nice shampoo? that's something I don't understand. I'm all for this.

I guess it doesn't really matter to consumers at the end of the day, and in fact, consumers may be thankful to Target for bringing in more brands.

I like the idea. It means you don't have to make an extra trip to get your quality items and you don't have to deal with sales people.

As a consumer I love the idea but I can totally see a lawsuit coming from this. Ha.

I was in target last week and I was surprised to see they now carry Iman cosmetics, have OPI and Essie nail polish (they didn't before) I was pretty exited when I saw them, but I didn't buy anything.

If only there was a Target in Manhattan...It would certainly make my life easier.

I don't mind this, but I can't blame the brands by being bugged by this. It's good for me though.

i hate it for a few reasons....one, usually its some sheisty salon or spa owner who sells the product to target/cvs/whatever NOT the actual company. this means that the product can be watered down/expired/whatever and it doesn't matter. the company can't guarantee the product, so you might think its not very good when actually you're just getting swindled. other reason i hate it is cause it is usually more expensive which just makes it dumb to me. why spend more for something that might not even be what it says?! plus, if you go to the salon you can get good advice on what to buy so you don't have to do the whole trial and error which will get real expensive.

I just smell lawsuits brewing and I don't blame the company. Target went about this the wrong way and it won't do much for the reputation. Yes, convenient to find anything and everything you want in Target, but go about it the right way. I've already heard of people finding expired products on shelves. Very questionable tactics on Target's part.

I would be all for it, but they don't carry the full line. Plus the Kiehl's cream cost more at my local Target than the Kiehl's store which is closer to my house (not to mention the handfuls of free samples you get at Kiehls!)

I do not shop there.

I'm not a fan. I personally prefer the prestige environment, simply because it's 100% legitimate and because you get real service from trained professionals. If I want cheap cosmetics, I'll go to Target. If I want expensive cosmetics, I'll go to MAC or Sephora. Simple as that.

I like it, however, I wish they would make sure to purchase it through legitimate channels. i don't care about the prestige factor, i care about the convenience. and friends, did you know that when you purchase shampoo/conditioners/styling products, etc., from your beauty professional that you are paying a 50% mark-up?

yes, i do have certain products that i love, especially keratase, pureology, bumble and bumble, aveda and i know how to use them, i just don't like the fact that i need to make another trip to pick up shampoo, etc.

I have seen some Kiehl's stuff there (which I love), but I don't buy any of those brands from a store like Target. I'd always heard they were counterfeit and the products may even be tampered with. I just don't trust it and will continue to buy them from a department store.

But what I DO love is that Target now carries pretty much the full Burt's Bees line and all my Alba Botanica products. They also have Weleda and some other great natural and organic brands.

Oh, and Vinnie's right...the Kiehl's products at Target cost MORE than they would at Bloomingdales, where I usually buy them.

I see nothing wrong in it, especially since Sephora started having a presence in JCPenney stores. That kind of set the precedence for others.

I love this idea, regardless of the mark-up in the prices. I work in a salon and too often watch customers get suckered into buying $40 shampoos and conditioners, so....and the money that I end up saving in gas more than makes up for it.

The target near me doesn't carry the stuff you are speaking of and we only have a Ulta in my city (no sephora) ut we do have macys which is pretty much the only other place i can go to find quality beauty products (other than the plethora of salons that sell overpriced hair products) it's just sad..i need to move into chicago lol as of now i love in a wanna-be suburb

Gray market could mean increased possibility of counterfeit product from China being mixed up with the real products, and the responsibility of the products sold are put in different hands and spread out. I don't think they should do it for these reasons. I don't know if I would buy high end stuff at Target or TJ Max, because I know there are a lot of shady business going on when retailers try to cut corners, even if they think they are getting the real deal it only takes one person at the right place to take advantage of the situation. But I'm sure most people don't care, as long as it is cheaper.

I noticed this at my Target last week. At first I was excited, but then I looked around and noticed a lot of the lower-priced stuff was missing. I certainly don't want to have to make a separate trip to Walmart just to get a cheap face wash. The whole gray-market thing is sketchy too, and I personally enjoy getting higher-end things at the mall or Sephora so you can get advice (and samples!).

I do shop at Target for some things, but I also have concerns about gray-market merchandise. There's too much potential for counterfeiting, and I'm not sure what the shelf life is on everything, but I wouldn't trust Target to monitor and pull old products. I'm even nervous about buying cosmetics and bath-and-body stuff at Marshall's or TJ Maxx, especially if the packages aren't securely factory sealed. Is it really worth taking the chance for a "bargain"? If I really need to save money, I'll buy a less-glamorous but perfectly adequate product.

I wish there was a Target in my town!
Of course life would be much easier!

I did notice this! I was looking at and smelling some products by some brand I never heard before - Alba, which was kinda pricey but it looked and smelled yummy! I'm a beauty product junky so I was in heaven!

im game

Eh, I noticed they had Salon brand shampoos the past few times. Didn't this almost sink bath and body works? Having all the burt's bees and gardeny type products? They announced they were going back to the traditional bath and body work products right after Christmas

I think it makes their products more accessible. The price and produst is always going to make them up-scale no matter where it's sold.

I don't think its fair to the companies if they haven't authorized Target to sell their products. I know some mom and pop beauty supply stores that get in trouble for this kind of thing! Honestly, I wouldn't save any money buying this stuff from target anyway. I shop at Ulta when they have sales and that is where I buy my salon shampoo and conditioners and some of my make up. I buy the rest of my make up from Macys along with my skin care stuff from Macy's and Sephora.

The area I live in doesn't have a lot of upscale stores nearby, so if I wanted to get Kiehl's or Bumble and Bumble, I'd have to resort to shopping online or driving a couple hours to get to the nearest place that sells it.

I like the idea that I can go to my local Target and get higher quality items.

I hate Bath and Body Works with a passion. I refuse to even enter the store or use other friends BBW products. I love the idea that Target is selling the brands now. I am going to search my beauty isle next time I go.

Bumble just down the street, yes! otherwise i have to drive to Palo Alto (20 min) to buy super gentle or coco...i will continue to by my make up and Kiehl's at Nordstrom's and Sephora because they have great return policies...sometimes you're just not happy and I don't think Target would care.

I don't really care but yeah, if the companies don't give Target permission to do this, there's always that chance of the quality of those 'high end' products to be compromised, which SUX because most likely it'll still be pricey (even at Target) anyway.

Target should obtain necessary permission and contracts from these high end cosmetic companies so that the products sold will have the same-similar quality to the ones in the high end stores.

The convenience is great though if you're far away from those high end stores, b/c in my town Target is everywhere, and I have one less than 5 minutes away from home.

I'm all about bargains and i absolutely love Target. And I don't care about prestige...I mean, who really goes through my things to see what kind of shampoo i am using? Or makeup? And if they did...i wouldn't care what they thought anyway...

To know that I dont have to travel the ends of the earth JUST to get my favorite shampoo is a huge relief.

I agree - Darling Nicki. Most of the saleswomen at prestige places try and make you feel inferior when you ask a lot of questions. I'll take my chances at Target.

I think this is a great idea. I love Target! They're all over the place here, too, lol.

Why not love it? These brands will get more people interested in their products and Target is seen as a more or less upscale store. It's no Saks, but it's no Wal-Mart either.

As a consumer, I like this idea but if it's all so sketchy, then I'd rather Target wouldn't do this--especially if the prices are even higher. I really don't see the point.

This irritates me, even though I love Target. Who wants to buy high end beauty products at a place that sells pet food? It's the whole experience.

I really don't know. The idea is great, but after reading the comments I'd be weary to buy them at Target and risk them being tampered with. Although, I don't know what keeps a salon owner from trying to save some pennies by mixing some cheaper conditioner in with a salon brand, too. I don't think Target would purchase from unreliable sources and risk the backlash from selling lower-quality products at higher-than-salon prices. Target is a lot bigger than Mo's Magic Hair on the mini mall across the street.

As for the loop holes through which they jumped to sell these brands, I don't know. I don't care about higher-end brands being sold in Target if they are legit and legal. If the products are the same, I don't think it matters where you buy them--unless you are the type of person who only buys them because they're at Bloomingdale's or Macy's.

Oh I just wanted to say that when I was a small retailer it really irked me that other stores would "cheat" and get the things that I was supposed to have "exclusively" Anway they could always undercut me on pricing because I had signed a contract agreeing to sell those items for a certain period of time at the MSRP, without even being allowed to place it on sale....

Target started doing this when I worked there during the Holiday season a few years back - I personally think its great. It benefits the consumer especially in difficult financial times.

However, I wouldn't buy my Aveda Shampoo and Conditioner there simply because the Aveda product guarantee wouldn't be in effect since I bought it from an unauthorized third party.

I think it would be a fine idea if Target was actually negotiating and working with the companies in question. Carrying products via "gray market" is both dishonest and potentially unsafe.

i almost fell over when i saw origins there last week. i still need to go price match to see if it is really cheaper than macys though

i think it would help the designers' business by making their brand available for a wider audience

If I were in the marketing of a top high-end beauty brand, I 'd go for it and it's time to go to a non-traditional channel of distributing the goods to consumers. Especially now with the failing economy and recession, we should be aware of how much "mass exposure" could also lead to sales.

However, as a consumer , if this is what Target has been doing (not buying from the companies themselves), I would be wary if the products were tampered or not. If the consumer is guaranteed that they are buying authentic products, then that would be very good for the consumers.

I'm all for it. Even though, I spend more money than I should on beauty products else where.

I loovveeee it! And I love Target! It is so much nicer than WalMart, and the way that these brands are acting are as if these products are being sold in WalMart. Chill out. It has been shown in research that people from a higher income bracket shop at Target. So it's still a very nice store.

I'm all for this. Most of the $20 that people spend on these products anyway are just profit, hardly any of it goes into the production of it.

i love it bumble and bumble omgees i hate going to a salon i dont even get my hair done at just to buy it
plus salon hours suck..