When Target releases a designer clothing line for a limited amount of time, shoppers go absolutely nutty. To wit: last year’s Missoni fracas where shoppers seeking coveted items crashed Target’s site, and rain boots showing up for $31K on eBay. So when one couple in Miami swooped in and grabbed most of one Target store’s Jason Wu line, their fellow shoppers were inclined to go berserk.

Electric Blogarella (via Miami New Times) says in her post “The Vultures That Ruined Jason Wu for Target” that she rolled out of bed at the crack of dawn to head over for the big launch, and there were only a few people in front of her in line at 7:30 a.m.

But despite her good position in line, somehow by the time the store opened and she and her fellow fashion-lovers raced to the Jason Wu display, almost everything was stripped from the racks. How could that be? The answer: a smug couple at the checkout manning carts loaded with almost the entire collection.

And that’s when things got ugly. A woman, who had been waiting in line as long as the rest of us, said she wasn’t going to tolerate that and took something out of the vultures’ carts. The male vulture showed her. Her husband threatened him. The police got involved. And then the insults started to fly. The rest of us who were shopping for ourselves with no plans to resell got mad. How was it fair that this guy was taking everything and then telling people around him they could “buy it off him outside?” The angry mob called over the management and asked them to intervene. And they did. They took him aside and told him it wasn’t allowed. But a call to corporate Target told them they were not allowed to enforce such a limit on items. And then we were back to square one.

As Electric Blogarella points out, there is a limit on items from the collection online, but not for in-store purchases. It wasn’t the local Target that failed their customers here, it was corporate, who apparently haven’t learned much from their past fashion craze mistakes.

In the video below, taken by a disgruntled shopper on the scene, you can practically smell the smug self-satisfaction of the woman hoarding and refolding her pile of light blue shirts.

*Thanks to Jose for the tip!

The Vultures That Ruined Jason Wu for Target [Electric Blogarella]
Terrible Couple Buys Out Target’s Entire Jason Wu Collection at Midtown Store [Miami New Times]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.