Target scrapped DEI to please Trump. It's not helping business.

Boing boing's (?) "analysis" included this gem:

[quote]Whatever you think they should or should not do, the lesson is that whoever you are trying to please will still hate you after you give it up to them, but you will also lose your friends.

which is not exactly accurate. When doing something to hurt libs, you'll engender the ire of libs, but whatever you do will never be enough for the cons. When you hurt a con, libs feel bad for the cons, but don't want you to hurt them in the first place so the only ire you engender is that they feel bad. Point blank, I'd tell Target (as a former sponsor of DEI and equality), you're stupid to try and hurt the libs, and we all know when you play stupid games you win stupid prizes.

And now that they've hurt the libs, I'm done with 'em.

FAFO, Target.

I get all my news from boingboing !

Weren’t conservatives boycotting Target anyway?

They're all doing it. I don't think it's necessarily to please him, his administration is threatening tax penalty if they don't. The Evangelicals are going to have us all hanging from the trees soon enough.

Last time I went to Target it was hell on earth.

Done with Target and its cloying frau culture.

We don't need that Target.

These businesses need to look at who their customer base is ...and who their workers are. Target cutting DEI is stupid.

Things must be bad if TARGET is the one requesting to meet with Al Sharpton.

These publicly traded companies are all damned if they do and damned if they don't, to be honest. The only way public companies can protect themselves from this sort of thing to stay the fuck out of politics altogether, and that is what needs to happen regardless.

I am not going to boycott Target based on their retrenchment as long as they don't explicitly take up right leaning social causes as a replacement.

Pay attention to whose campaigns these companies are donating to and decide whom to boycott on that basis instead.

These publicly traded companies are all damned if they do and damned if they don't, to be honest. The only way public companies can protect themselves from this sort of thing to stay the fuck out of politics altogether, and that is what needs to happen regardless.

I am not going to boycott Target based on their retrenchment as long as they don't explicitly take up right leaning social causes as a replacement.

Pay attention to whose campaigns these companies are donating to and decide whom to boycott on that basis instead.

I haven't been in a Target store since January 3rd of this year. No need, Costco has everything I need. Added bonus: Costco doesn't have frauen pushing around oversized baby tanks with their screaming, shrieking demon seeds in them.

Good to know.I've stopped shopping at that store.

Ditto R5. Those Super Targets are Super Chaotic.

Most people are against DEI and have been since it moved from the academic intelligentsia into everyday life. It is offensive and very destructive of social cohesion, which was probably the purpose all along.

DEI is not a political policy, it is a social and economic policy. If there were no economic benefits derived from DEI no company would do it. It is rich that the Police Pension Fund of FL is suing Target because it got rid of DEI.

I’m old enough to remember how Target, long the sponsor of Minneapolis’ (Target’s hometown) Pride parade, the company that featured LGBTQ individuals in their commercials, was taking our money and donating to anti-gay politicians.

It was a HUGE scandal in 2010, leading to many LGBTQ higher-ups resigning in protest. There were pickets and demonstrations and a TON of media stories and coverage.

Target promised the LGBTQ community to “make it right”, but secretly kept donating to anti-gay politicians. Plural, despite what the headline says,

You either support us or you don’t. It can’t be both. And they’ve long been duplicitous.

Target can go fuck itself. I don’t even poop in a Target.

They don’t actually care. They never have. And never will.

Which, you know, is actually fine. But to act as though they do is despicable.

I guess Sharron has inherited Jesse Jackson’s scam.

His Rainbow Coalition used to request meetings with companies and then come in with resumes of specific people with no qualifications related to the business at hand. I know it because they came into our company.

It’s basically a shakedown. Hire their friends, or they will make a stink.

We don’t care about you. Buy our shit!

[quote]It is rich that the Police Pension Fund of FL is suing Target because it got rid of DEI.

More likely, the people responsible for investing the pension fund are idiots (most of them are), so have been making poor decisions for years and need a scapegoat to divert attention from their own incompetence.

It's actually pretty sad how financiall illiterate the people running city and state finances and public worker pension funds are.

Good. Fuck you, Target. Though, if this is the straw that broke the camel’s back, it’s as if Twin Cities Pride has forgotten the lessons of 2010!.

Remember when Target “modified” their Pride merchandise displays because someone complained? They’ve ALWAYS been pussies. Fuck Target.

And they cited “employee security” for their decision to downsize their Pride merchandise displays.

Liars and cunts.

Tap dance, cunts.

I don’t want to lose Target, though. If Target collapsed as a chain, it would further strengthen Amazon and Walmart.

R26, Target hates you.

People always seem to conveniently forget that Target used to make applicants take a purity test when filling out their application. This was a multiple choice test to weed out who they thought, based on the applicants' answers, might be a homosexual. This wasn't urban legend, either. They were sued over this practice & adjusted their application process.

Target's ad campaigns are full of diversity--blacks, muslims, Asians, Latinos, mixed race couples, and of course the "queers". But the purpose of these campaigns isn't to get these people rushing to their stores. It's to get white suburbia who feel good about supporting a company that supports those ethics into their stores. And that's mostly who's shopping & working there. They'll all tell you the same reason for choosing Target over Wal-Mart, too--they hate the people who shop there. So they're upstanding people fpr supporting Target & their performative DEI, but in reality they're just classist assholes. So fuck Target. They're finally getting the backlash they deserve. I haven't spent money there in years.

Target's business model was in trouble long before this shit happened. That's why they decided to do the affinity marketing stuff with Gays or POC in the first place. It was never based on any convictions. All their stuff is junk and it is overpriced. I would never buy clothes there. Electronics, go to Best Buy or Costco. Fuck Target. I haven't been inside a Target in about 5 years.

Fuck Target. Real talk. And their business is down big time.

[quote]Most people are against DEI and have been since it moved from the academic intelligentsia into everyday life.

This is false. Today's Pew/USA Today poll: 53% of Americans approve of actions to improve diversity, equity and inclusion in the federal government. 44% disapprove.

It actually kinda sounds like Target doesn’t know how to flip flop, or is just really bad at it.

Stop kissing Trump's ass.

Stand up to the bully. He'll cower and back off.

R27 I dunno if Target hates R26, they just love their perceived business interests more.

R34 Target is no better than those others

[quote] Stand up to the bully. He'll cower and back off.

Exactly! China hasn't blinked. Dump looks a bigger fool than ever.

Target's commitment to DEI and carrying goods by minority owners was so fulsome and woven into its brand that its about-face to appease Trump has been enraging.

R37 they did it for show. They were always a conservative company.

Personally, I found it very weird to have all of these Pride clothes (including for kids) when I walked into a Target. It felt very commercialized and overdone to sell things to people not in our community. Performative.

But putting those things at the front of the store as you walk in was BOUND to set some conservatives off. I don't condone that - but they knew what they were doing.

From Tesla to Target - one thing to learn is that boycotts CAN be effective. People always say they aren't - but when it's not done flippantly over a small issue - it works.

R28, I appreciate your reminder of their (shocking) purity tests.

And your observations on Target’s intent on their very cynical advertising campaigns are as astute as they are deflating.

Great post, R28.

Why Al Sharpton is still walking free is the actual mystery.The tax evasion is just the tip of the iceberg.

If this is the moral compass Target is turning to, they're deservedly doomed.

I pity R41 if he let's convicted felon/pathological liar/ajudicated con artist/grifter and sexual pervert like Donald Trump be his moral compass.

It's about not knowing or taking your customers for granted.

It was a ridiculous overreaction, but Bud Light forgot who their customer was and then they were reminded.

Tractor Supply and John Deere were the first to cave on DEI, but they know their consumers.

Target's customer is not the same as Tractor Supply. Costco and Marriott doubled down on DEI and they're fine.

Target was weak and stupid, and now made themselves, well, a target.

Slightly off topic, but I've seen a lot of 'mini-Targets' go up in big cities. They're so disappointing with the limited amount of products. The appeal of Target is their large selection.

I don't understand those small stores at all. They don't feel much different than a slightly larger CVS or Walgreens.

I have to think they're losing a lot on those smaller Targets. On paper, to expand your business, I could see the logic in creating smaller store in existing urban retail space - because buying the huge real estate for massive stores and parking can be so expensive. But the idea just doesn't work, in my opinion.

R44 they aren’t losing on those. They close their bigger stores. Not the smaller ones.

R45 - this article says they are not opening more of those.

R46 yes. But they aren’t closing the ones they already have either. Which is what I said. They’ve been closing their larger ones.

Wrong, R47. Target closed a small format store on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia about a year ago.

I go to Target for one stop shopping: groceries, clothes, shoes, housewares, all under one roof. If I have to go to multiple Targets, why bother?

R48 - I agree with you. That's the whole point of Target. These mini stores have 80% less product choices and lot less SKUs overall - what's the point?

If you ever go in one, it's just a deeply unsatisfying experience. I know they're targeting the car-free urban buyer, but they're not really offering anything different than what large drug stores have or other places.

It's not a big deal - it was an experiment. I was just commenting on my own disappointment.

I'll minimize my spending with Target for the rest of my life. They've shown their true colors. I haven't spent a dime with them in months and hope to keep it up as long as I can.

R49 just go to Costco or Walmart then you fucking imbecile. You seem slow

R34 are you slow? Target is a major corporation just like Amazon and Walmart. They’re no better. They aren’t a fucking mom and pop store

We need an employee-owned version of Target/Amazon/Walmart. One that sells union-made stuff.

Do you think these days Mom and Pop want to run a small store that sells union-made stuff for at least 2x the price of online and big box stores? And have to deal with you cheap-ass finicky bitches?

11th straight week of declining store traffic.

Target, you in danger, girl.

I know someone who worked there and she told me they are a terrible company to work for.

LAst time I went to Target was about a year ago, and the help looked miserable. I never saw such an unhappy crew of workers.

R28's assessment is, at best, flawed. Target still uses those multiple-choice aptitude tests; they just don't (openly) discriminate against gay employees due to the backlash they faced decades ago. And of course when the environment is favorable to promoting LGBTQI+ merchandise, they will do it; when the winds shift, they'll go along with that. That the community has stood up and said "not with my gay dollars" (or whatever minority group is your cause) is a good thing. Target management is [italic]more[/italic] than keenly aware of your/our sentiments, and the question for them comes down to whether they think they can make more money go with the prevailing sentiment or against it. They presently believe they will make more money being anti-DEI than pro; our efforts, however, are having the intended effect. Sales are down, foot traffic is down, and their stock price is down substantially. And if we're headed into a recession, they've chosen the wrong time to alienate their core constituencies.