Retail sales in August may have been flat, but for one day this week, there was a spending spree going on reminiscent of Black Friday.

Yes, I'm talking about the Missoni for Target line. Many folks were baffled by the fuss over a bunch of dresses with zigzags. But devotees who love the Italian fashion house swamped Target stores around the country.

In case you haven't heard, Target unveiled a limited-edition Missoni line in its stores and online on Tuesday. The regular stuff sells in the range of several hundred dollars to thousands of dollars at the likes of Neiman Marcus.

Anyway, Missoni lovers were so zealous to get a hold of Missoni dresses at prices such as $54.99 that many stores sold out of their inventory within hours. And the Target website was so overwhelmed that it crashed for several hours on Tuesday.

Niky Roberts, who works in public relations in St. Louis, was one of the lucky ducks to nab some Missoni. She was in Springfield, Mo., on business, so she went straight to a Target there after she was done with work. The store had been mostly cleaned out by then, but upon the suggestion of a fellow shopper, she checked out the children's section, where she found an extra-large sweater.

"It fit like a glove," she said proudly. "I am a Missoni fan, but I do not have a Missoni budget. So this was a nice way to own a Missoni piece."

I called around to some local Target stores on Friday afternoon, and many of then said they still had a couple of Missoni odds and ends left — things like cosmetic bags, hair accessories, and drinking cups.

But for those of you who missed out, you may get another shot. Jessica Deede, a Target spokeswoman, said that some stores may get a bit more Missoni merchandise trickling in because of some delayed shipments. But the stores will not be fully restocked with the collection, she said.

In the meantime, some observers remain unimpressed by the hype.

"Target's Missoni line reminds me of my great-aunt's sofa and curtains," tweeted radio host Dana Loesch.

ST. LOUIS NOT A TARGET

While I'm on the subject of Target, this would be a good time to mention the brief excitement earlier this week when it seemed that the retailer was seriously considering opening one of its urban, small-format stores in downtown St. Louis.

The speculation spread on Twitter when an account called "CityTarget" — the name Target uses for these stores — began dropping not-so-subtle hints that it was looking at a spot downtown. That led to a mini-frenzy among prolific tweeters around town who giddily encouraged the retailer to come downtown.

But alas, Target's media office confirmed that "CityTarget" was not an official Twitter account. Target is always looking for new locations, an official said, but for now, the retailer's only four announced locations remain Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

And the identity of the "CityTarget" tweeter remains unclear.

DISNEY REBIRTH

Die-hard Disney fans who have been moping since all of the local Disney Stores closed a few years ago had something to rejoice about this week.

The company opened a new and improved store on Wednesday at the St. Louis Galleria on the second floor near the soon-to-open Nordstrom.

It was the 26th newly designed Disney Store to open in the nation since the company first unveiled its new store design last year. The company plans to open 40 to 50 more such stores around the world next year.

But don't expect to see Disney Stores returning to other local malls in the near future. Jim Fielding, the president of Disney Stores Worldwide, said in a phone interview this week that the company is being very selective with its new locations and doesn't want to oversaturate the market.

"We'll have this one great store in the St. Louis Galleria, and that will be it for the market," he said. "We feel that the concept and the brand is really about destination and uniqueness. We don't want to be as ubiquitous as we were in the past."

Back in 2008, the Disney Store shuttered about 100 stores nationwide, including four in the St. Louis region. Those stores were at the Galleria, Chesterfield Mall, Mid Rivers Mall, and Crestwood Court.

The stores were operated then by a subsidiary of Children's Place Retail Stores, which filed for bankruptcy that year. Walt Disney Co. took the remaining 220 stores in North America back under its wing that year.