Target Corporation, I Found a Product Made in the USA!

Since I couldn't find his e-mail address, I sent the following letter via US Postal Service to the Chairman/President/CEO of Target Corporation:

Mr. Gregg W. Steinhafel

Chairman, President & CEO

Target Corporation

1000 Nicollet Mall

Minneapolis, MN  55403

Dear Mr. Steinhafel,

I just wanted to express how happy I was to actually find a product Made in the USA during my recent shopping experience at Target in Penfield, New York. I found a cute purple watering pot to replace my aged one that fell apart. Best of all, I don’t feel that it cost me any extra to purchase a domestic product rather than an imported one.

Sadly, it is increasingly difficult to find products made in our country these days amidst the goods from overseas, especially China. Given the state of our economy, every dollar that we can keep at home to support American jobs is an investment in our future.

You should know that I deliberately avoid purchasing products made in China. I have no trust for anything made there, as there have been too many scandals involving unsafe products. Furthermore, the pervasiveness of Chinese products in the marketplace causes me to be concerned about our balance of trade and increasing indebtedness to China. I know that I am not alone in feeling this way. If at all possible, I will do without or keep looking for an alternative rather than send my dollars to China.

Again, thank you for providing me with the opportunity to purchase an American-made product. I ask that you reconsider the sourcing decisions made by Target Corporation and provide more such opportunities.

                                                                        Cordially yours,

Phillips Lighting Company - CFL Light Bulbs in 100% Recyclable Packaging

I sent this letter via e-mail through the Phillips website.  It took a bit of looking to find the right "contact us".  The website on their packaging is their investor relations department.  With just a little on-line searching, I was able to find the right group to contact.

To whom it may concern:

When available, Philips light bulbs are my bulb of choice, as I've found them to last longer than those of another major manufacturer who shall remain nameless.  I recently added a lamp to my living space and was looking for a 3-way bulb that topped out at 100 Watts (or equivalent) as that's the maximum the lamp can handle.  I was disappointed that I was unable to find a CFL with that configuration, but I decided I could live without the 3-way functionality and settled for a simple 100/23 Watt CFL.

I am writing to let you know that I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that the entire packaging for this energy-saving bulb is recyclable.  Our area only recycles #1 and #2 plastics, but your bulb was packaged in PET/#1.  I realized after the fact that there's a small statement on the back indicating that the package is 100% recyclable, but it's so small that it went unnoticed when I was deciding which bulb to buy.

Thank you for making the effort to create an environmentally-friendly packaging.  I will do my best to let others know about your progressive attitude towards the planet we live on.  And rest assured that I will properly dispose of the product at the end of its life cycle. 

Now... if you could only develop the 3-way bulb I'm looking for???

Cordially yours,

Linda S Jones

Introductory Post

This blog, like most good intentions, has taken a while to get off the drawing board.  However, 2011 started for me with a lot of frustrating encounters with corporate America, so it seemed like as good a time as ever to stop thinking and start doing.

Most of my recent encounters were of the negative variety, and I will be posting about them over the next few days.  However, I wanted to start the blog on a positive note, so my first posting it a Kudo.

I hope you enjoy following me "tilting at windmills" and, perhaps, join me for on the quest.