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Re:How Target Figured Out A Teen Girl Was Pregnant Before He... by jgw on Friday February 17, 2012 @09:11AM (#3603313)
I see what you're saying - in fact, I just switched my usual hardware store from a big Home Depot to a local Home Hardware (a somewhat smaller, Canadian chain), partly because of that personal relationship you're alluding to.

I think, though, that the relationship to Target isn't like that, because while they know an awful lot about you personally, you don't know them personally at all - they're just a corporate face, not a familiar one behind the counter.

In fact, you've just helped me figure out a bit more specifically what I found vaguely unsettling about it.

Re:How Target Figured Out A Teen Girl Was Pregnant Before He... by TheAmazingIdiot on Friday February 17, 2012 @01:53PM (#3604501)
With the local sole proprietor knowing your intimate details, you as the customer know his. You probably go to the same, if not similar church. You also have neighbors who you both have in common. You also know about his life, his children, his wife.

In the end, he's another person (not 'person' like target) who lives in your community.

Who, perhaps, is Target? Or Wal-mart?