What do school supplies, giveaways, games, and DJ’s have in common? Target at Sierra Vista Mall brings all of these things together once a year for the Target Back to College event exclusively held for Fresno State students.
Krista Kracher, executive team leader at Target said this year’s event would be much more exciting than the last.
“We have a lot more participation from Coke who is our vendor partner for the event,” Kracher said. “It allowed us to have a lot more money for the buses and DJ.”
Kracher said each year about 2,000 students attend the event and participate in games, raffles, and great deals. Prizes include tickets to Universal Studios Hollywood, Six Flags Magic Mountain and Target gift cards.
In the past, Target would send several charter buses over to the dorms to bring people over to the event at 9:30 p.m. This year, it sent a party bus to transport students instead.
Mia Bustillos, a freshman, came to Target on the party bus with her roommate Rosa Perez.
“It was like a little party in there,” Bustillos said. “We were really surprised when the bus pulled up for us, it felt like we were going to a quince.”
Perez was more excited about the exclusive part of the event.
“I’m really excited to see what’s going on inside,” Perez said. “It’s really cool how they do this just for Fresno State.”
Students were lined up around the building when the doors opened and target members welcomed everyone in with coupons, music and the Target mascot. As students filed inside, they found Monster Energy Drink giveaways, coupons for the newest Pokémon video game and free snacks.
As students explored the store, they discovered waterpong tournaments and cornhole games in the toddler section and free chips and salsa samples in the school supplies section.
On their way out, attendees received goodie bags filled with a few college essentials: gum, beef jerky, energy drinks, soap and other toiletries.
Though Target really raised the bar on giveaways this year, Fresno State student A.J. Barco said last year was more fun.
“Last year felt like there were more people and more vendors,” Barco said. “But I got some pretty good stuff. Overall, it was pretty good.”