A few photos from Shae's trip

Leela Palace Hotel where Shae stayed


Traffic and market shots





Hannah in a sari :)


For more pictures, check out our family site: www.mccowens.smugmug.com (E-mail me if you need the password... lisa_mccowen@hotmail.com)

Your Questions Answered: What is Target doing in India?

I will try to answer some of the MANY and very good questions that have been asked often.

Q: What is Target doing in India?
There are no Target Stores in India.  (They aren’t any outside of the US.)
At the Target India office, there are about 2000 employees, of which about 17 are from the US. About 2/3rds are IT, writing programs for Target, like their internal help line. The other third includes all of Target’s other operations from marketing, buying staff, stores, distribution, and finance, etc. Target India supports Target in Mpls.

I will write more soon about off-shoring vs. out-sourcing and other hot topics. :)

Q: What will Shae be doing?
Shae will be working with merchandising (his current primary line of work in Mpls), Target.com and sourcing. He will be developing leadership.

To see a few photos and learn more, check out Target India's website.

Shae's Recon Trip

The purpose of Shae’s trip is to meet the team he’ll be working with and get that lay of the land. The woman he’ll be replacing is coming back to the States earlier than expected (good job opening for her at Tgt Mpls), so Tgt wanted them to have some overlap before her departure. Shae is very impressed with all of the people he’ll be working with; they are a competent, innovative, interesting team. And accomplished... one of his direct reports has her MBA from Yale.

In a recent get-to-know-you meeting with a group of 5-6 on a team that Shae will be developing, Shae said he’d answer any questions they had. Their questions were: If you could go back and change 2 things in your life, what would they be? If God granted you 2 wishes what would they be? If you could go back and meet one person in history, who would it be? Wow!

Shae had an opportunity to tour the area where we’ll be living (Palm Meadows, gated community). Target leases homes there for its Mpls employees. The homes are privately owned and the owners either live there or rent them out. We won’t know just yet which home will be available. We have some pictures of houses in the area; e-mail if you want to see them.  The community has a lot to offer; it’s adjacent to a hotel/country club with restaurants, pools, parks, and grocery stores. Shae got to visit with several expat families and enjoyed their adventurous spirits and great stories.

Another BIG change about living abroad (one that I’m eagerly anticipating, to be honest): household help. The great update on this front is that Shae had a chance to meet Raj, who’s been cooking for the Murphy family (Tracy M. is the one Shae will be replacing). He and his wife cook and clean for the Murphys and they are a dear, trusted couple who’ve stayed with the Murphy kids several times. The Murphys have offered them to us. So great to have trusted help. Raj is heralded as the best cook in Palm Meadows (about 500 homes!). He shops for fresh vegetables and fruit daily and he has learned to make dishes to appeal to the kiddos. I can’t wait to learn from him! Also key is that it’s not safe for women to travel alone later in the evening, so having a husband/wife team means that they could come later in the day and stay later (Shae won’t be home until 8pm or later—it’s kind of a 10am-8pm workday).

Bangalore or Bust

We're headed to Bangalore, India for a 2-year assignment with Target India.

What an adventure!

More to come...