Hits the spot

Target hits the spot with same-day delivery to San Antonio stores

Shipt and Target are teaming up to offer San Antonians same-day delivery.

Here’s the trouble with Target. You enter to buy toothpaste and some bananas, and you leave with a new top, a dozen gel pens, and a few pieces from Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Hearth & Hand collection. But now thanks to the retail giant’s latest program, San Antonians might have a little less trouble sticking to their shopping list.

With the help of online grocery delivery service Shipt, Target will begin offering same-day delivery to customers in San Antonio and other Texas cities beginning February 15. The service comes on the heels of Target’s acquisition of the company in December 2017. Leveraging its new subsidiary, the deal will offer Target shoppers convenient access to a wide variety of goods, including around 55,000 grocery items, home staples, toys, and electronics.

The company hopes to offer delivery from most stores by the end of 2018. In 2019, Target plans to expand the purchase choices from essentials to almost every category in the store. (That means you can redecorate your entire home without ever getting out of your pajamas.)

The service does require a Shipt membership, but for a limited time Target is offering a reduced rate of $49 instead of the regular $99. Customers who spend $100 on their first order (and, let's be frank, when was the last time you spent less than that at the store?) will also get a $15 credit.

In addition to San Antonio, the delivery service will be launched in Austin, College Station, Corpus Christi, Killeen, Temple, and the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston metropolitan areas (sorry — no delivery is available yet in the Gaines’ hometown of Waco). Shipt will hire 3,000 shoppers throughout the Southwest to keep up with the demand.

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spooky szn

Texas ranks 3rd in new list of states most excited for Halloween

Pumpkin Nights/Facebook

Let's get spooky, Texas.

Is Halloween the new Christmas? Sure seems like it in Texas, which just earned top-5 status in a new study of the U.S. states that are the most into the Halloween spirit.

When it comes to doing up the spookiest holiday of the year, the Lone Star State comes in as the third-most Halloween-obsessed state in America.

The report by outdoor furniture retailer Backyard Oasis ranked all 50 states based on an analysis of search results for Halloween costumes, decor, candy, haunted houses, upcoming Halloween events, and more. State populations were also factored into the rankings to ensure the scores were "accurately comparable."

Texas ranked No. 3 with a composite score of 48.16 points, beat only by California, which ruled the list at No. 1, and New York, which came in at No. 2. The top two earned gilded costume crowns as the most Halloween-enthusiastic states.

According to the study's data, Texas is home to 47 haunted houses. The state has more than 75 Spirit Halloween stores in 2024, including nearly 30 in DFW, a dozen in Houston, half a dozen in Austin, and four in San Antonio.

Looking outside of San Antonio, there are approximately 3,000 Halloween-related events happening all around the state in October.

Many trick-or-treaters dream of getting full size candy bars for Halloween, but in a surprising twist, the study found that the most popular Halloween candy in Texas is actually Sour Patch Kids. The sour-then-sweet candy is also highly popular in New York and Illinois, the report says.

Here's how Backyard Oasis broke down the rest of Texas' score:

9,314,440 – Halloween costume searches in October 2023
1,168,320 – Halloween decoration searches
445,670 – Halloween candy searches

Backyard Oasis CEO Andy Wu said in the report that the spirit of Halloween isn't just about giving out candy or dressing up in fun costumes, it's about sharing in a "tradition that sparks creativity and joy across the U.S."

"Halloween is one of the most exciting times of the year, bringing people together through creativity and celebration," said Wu. "It's amazing to see how different states embrace the holiday in their own unique ways, from massive costume searches to thrilling haunted houses."

The top 10 most Halloween-obsessed states are:

No. 1 – California
No. 2 – New York
No. 3 – Texas
No. 4 – Florida
No. 5 – Illinois
No. 6 – Ohio
No. 7 – Pennsylvania
No. 8 – Indiana
No. 9 – Michigan
No. 10 – Massachusetts

The least spooky state in the U.S. is Wyoming, which came in at No. 50, joined by nearby states Montana and South Dakota. New Mexico (No. 46) and Vermont (No. 47) were the other two states on the list's bottom five.

The full report can be found on backyardoas.com.

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