The divergence here from two companies with *very* similar customer bases is pretty wild, you do not see this sort of thing happen at scale very often.
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A 24 hour Work Stop begins tonight at 12am. Call in sick. Go to work late, leave early, (your employer may protest with you) buy local, boycott the wealthy. Ask your family, friends and coworkers to participate as well. We need to stop tRump!
#BuildtheResistance
This is interesting. I shopped at Target and Costco a lot when living in AZ once I quit shopping at Walmart in 2010. Since we moved to RI Costco is too far away. But, it was still easy to quit Target. Once I learned other options after Walmart it was easier to quit Target. You don't need them.
I live in a wealthy suburb of Houston (Johnson Space Center area) and the Target has become impossible to shop at. They will have 1 checkout line open, and everyone is funneled to self-check. They're just not staffing the store.
I wonder what they got in return for obeying in advance?
So far, my employer (a global firm with US state and federal contracts) is standing strong with its DEI policy, as it serves our corporate culture well, and our executives regularly affirm that.
It was a financial bet on the trump regime. They made it very early — in advance— to get an early adopter “bonus.” Now they’re stuck. How can they bring DEI back? The admin will loudly excoriate them for folding, the lost customers won’t come back and they lose maga customers. They’re stuck!
Thing is, I don't know why any of these allegedly "smart" businesspeople running these corporations believed Trump after that over-the-top racist and batshit insane campaign could possibly be good for business in any way, shape or form.
It's on them to restore their image though. Good luck.
Just confirming the whole reason DEI exists in the first place which is that people feel more comfortable doing business with firms that reflect the diversity of the consumers.
Target turned me off from day 1. When they moved into my area, I started to fill out an application at the store for their card, but changed my mind part way through. They put the application through anyway and I didn't know until I received my card. I cut it in half and waved goodbye.
Target was already down and reeling it was the worst possible time for their CEO same time company had hit rock bottom. CEO is a Dunce and must be fired.
I think it was very smart to make the boycott a Lenten boycott. Boycotts can get vague & impractical (every large company has done SOMETHING, where are you supposed to shop, etc), but this one is a specific length with a specific message. Easier for more people to do, increasing participation.
I remember back in the day trying to fully enumerate all the businesses that Koch Industries had their fingers in and realizing that they had succeeded in diversifying themselves past the point of being boycottable. (Ironic in retrospect.)
I started my boycott the moment they announced the move and it will exist in perpetuity. I cannot forgive them for complying in advance. Plus I like Costco better.
My wife has strong political beliefs but is a "normie" and not a brain poisoned politics poster like me. I was surprised when she said she's avoiding target because of this stuff. It's really gotten through somehow
It’s something we can do, it’s one way to push back against the insanity and racism ushered in by this administration. Proud my family left Target and joined Costco.
Also, when I joined COSTCO, I made sure to tell the customer service lady it was because of its diversity practices and she mentioned how many new members had told her the same thing
Living in Minnesota it's possibly harder than in most states, but my partner and I are committed to it. I'd probably be doing it even if it didn't lead to any effects. (I also haven't bought anything from Amazon or whole foods in months.)
Not that it's a contest, of course. But outside of emergencies I'm glad to think that if I don't need something, I can evaluate whatever infinitesimal shards of benefit and drawbacks there are, and how they interact with my worldview.
Yep. I had to buy something there in an emergency recently, but otherwise I haven't been since January. A real pain in the ass for me, actually, but worth it to see them suffer.
I'm rueful that I'm probably going to have to break it out of necessity later today since it's right there and I have a time crunch - but it'll be the first time in over a month now while before we were there at least two to three times a week.
Friend and I were discussing this yesterday. He was of the opinion that Target chose the less bad option of dropping DEI because they operate in a lot of Red parts of the country whereas, Costco did not have to make that choice because they don't have as large of a footprint in Red areas.
I stopped going because I could not bear that the pride merch was not going to happen. It made me sad. And angry. As angry as I was when Target gave financial support to Prop 8 in California in 2008😭
Yep. I'm lucky enough to live in a place where I have easy alternatives and I haven't set foot in one in ages. Their surveillance is through the roof and they lock shit up like they're preemptively accusing all of us and I want nothing to do with a company like that if at all possible.
I hear you. There is a dilemma for me around the employees that I respect and who are so helpful and kind even though they're not being recompensed for helpfulness and kindness. And forbearance. The work-arounds for some are paltry, so yes, lucky. I'm even trying Ebay for some things.😂
Word of mouth in Los Angeles. Saw the Century/Crenshaw Boulevard Target parking lot half empty on a Sunday afternoon. Costco across the street, packed. I was pricing car tires. Costco set up a pre-pay kiosk serving 2 of 6 line members-only food court. Also packed.
Target rolled out a collab with Kate Spade this weekend and I checked online yesterday AM to see how it was doing (not to buy anything). The DVF collab almost entirely sold out within 9 hours online. Yesterday, EVERYTHING was still available after 12 hours and that never happens.
target is insanely expensive, I used to go there occasionally for shit like personal hygiene products, candles, and cleaning products but it's just not feasible for me to do everyday shopping there
thanks! I live far enough beyond the exurbs that my retail experience is mostly just Walmart or HEB, been at least a year since I've been the closest Target
We finally broke down and joined Costco at the end of March, and besides likely killing a bunch of our Target runs, I’ve scrapped a bunch of Amazon subscribe and save orders too
Recently, I needed to grab a new cordless charger. In the past, with stuff like that I’d default to Target or Best Buy if I had to.
This time, I realized that I could get it at an office store which I did.
Now that I’ve though out of the box, I’ll default to the Targets and Walmarts much less.
I really wonder what is happening here...have there been any other articles that have attempted an in-depth analysis? Target isn't the only company that has rolled back its DEI efforts. I'm not a retail expert but is Walmart suffering similar losses?
Target built its brand on diversity and inclusion, selling Pride shirts, etc. This feels like a bigger betrayal than other companies rolling back DEI who didn’t profit off of it. Who’s never going back? 🎯 🙋🏻♀️
Personal experience of course but seems like a lot of people went to Target because it was less awful politicaly, and I would guess people figure if Target is as awful as e.g. Walmart then might as well go to the cheapest store
Yeah could be? And, I don't know, maybe Walmart is also seeing a sales slump. Comparing Costco (DEI champion!) to Target (DEI villain!) makes a juicy headline, but I don't think the stores actually have THAT much in common. I'm not sure folks are replacing their Target shopping with Costco shopping.
Not fully but I did with Costco, the local grocery store, and an occasional Walgreens or CVS trip. I’ve deliberately chosen to purchase elsewhere. Since January, I have been to Target only once and then I just picked up just a few things I had trouble getting elsewhere. I used to go at least weekly
My question is more: if Target is seeing a drop in foot traffic that analysts are linking to its DEI stance, what about all the other companies that have also rolled back DEI? Forget Walmart -- there's lots more. How's McDonald's doing, for ex? Pepsi? Lowe's? etc.
Based on anecdotal evidence it's broken out on instagram in a way that not very much other political news has since the election. In my group of friends the instagram user demographic and the target shopper demographic are one and the same - suburban millennial mothers.
Later on in the replies someone posted some data suggesting that Target has been considered a "liberal" alternative to Walmart...if true, the staying power of the Target boycott makes more sense to me. Boy did Target ever misread the moment/their customer base, if so.
A lot of consumer trust is related to the integrity with which they view a corporation’s leadership - if Target is bending over backwards for the current political moment it communicates to customers that their word on anything, not just DEI, can’t be taken at face value.
🫡 my costco card is just beneath my ID in my wallet, the former because I travel frequently and the latter because of my crippling addiction to almonds that would otherwise bankrupt me
The one thing Target has going for it is that it’s the only big box that hasn’t been shy about exploring alternative store formats for urban locations.
I'd like for this to be true, but how do we know it's not just that Costco on average just has much better value per $ and people are cutting back on spending right now due to *gestures widely*
They all want Republican customers and not liberal customers. Okay, but I have goods and services I need too, and I can do a boycott forever without losing a minute of sleep over it.
FWIW Walmart has abandoned a lot of their ESG, corporate philanthropy, and DEIA efforts too. But, they have a slightly different average shopper, and a strange on small communities who have no other options except for a big box retailer
I used to do my shopping at Target but they kept changing what lines they carried and kept discontinuing what I bought so I stopped and bought more at Walmart, but then I just got a Costco membership and HEB opened
I have a Red Card and I haven’t shopped there since the inauguration. I’m buying most of my groceries/home goods at either Costco or the (admittedly sorta bougie) employee-owned grocery store across the street from our house.
I was given a gift card by family and even though it's already paid for, I still refuse to use it. Running out of decent places to shop these days but I'll keep it up for as long as it takes.
A suggestion: Donate it to a local charity or food bank. When I was running a charitable fund, we would give them to families who had lost their belongings in a house fire or who needed winter coats for their kids. Target still has good prices and good quality and you can get almost anything there.
Or use it to get feminine supplies, toilet paper, etc. and donate it to your local food bank. The money has already been spent - might as well use it for something good rather than just let it sit there.
Not using it is actually the most helpful thing to Target one could do, since Target gets to keep the cash without ever giving up any inventory for it. Using it and donating the goods gets at least part of of the money out of Target's pocket and helps somebody struggling.
- excruciating own-goals, pissing off both the Left and the Right w/in a year
- incredibly poor merchandising and inventory mgmt
- under-investing in stores (so many are looking very beat)
so glad we sold out the last of our position in Q2/Q3 last year
Yes, I sold my Target stock when I observed while shopping that they were consistently having inventory issues. Since they caved on DEI I've switched almost all of my household goods shopping elsewhere, including buying and using a Costco membership.
COST has insanely loyal customer base and given their limited clothing selection, aren’t likely to ruffle feathers with “campaigns” that appear deferential to a group that would take offense
TGT is run like a cult and there isn’t a lot of trust at the lower levels for providing critical feedback. Minneapolis only ever hears good things until problems are too big to ignore. Its culture is rotten and big changes are needed.
i took the red card out of my wallet.. and haven't shopped there since they 'bent the knee'. finding stuff i normally would buy - non grocery at a pharmacy or ordering from companies like GroveCo
Thought it would be harder to go Target-free (esp. in MN where they’re everywhere) for non-groc, but it’s been 3 mos & no regrets. Shifted personal care & health purchases to an indie community pharmacy (who need that $ after getting beat up by PBMs) and Ulta. Groc at my local UFCW-staffed store.
The amount of losers on CNBC the other day saying this will all blow over. However, I don’t see how it will unless target reverse unos their DEI decision
We still get a few items from there, but now that I see it actually making an impact I want to stop everything just to make them suffer more. It’s the principle of the matter
They idiots on the tv tried to say that Walmart isn’t getting hit as hard. Not sure how you get on tv and think Walmart and target have the same consumer base at large. America also expects this from Walmart 😂 . It’s so easy to shop somewhere else and Costco is one of them for us.
I was so pleased with Target when it looked like they were standing up to anti lgbtq bigots a couple of years ago. So it was especially disappointing when they ended dei. I loved curbside pickup but they haven’t seen me since and they won’t.
I don't do a ton of physical (non-grocery) shopping, but I have definitely thought about going to Target and decided against it a couple times in recent months, so this does track
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#BuildtheResistance
https://chng.it/WBR8LRVmr7
https://www.penzeys.com/shop/about-republicans/
https://pro.morningconsult.com/instant-intel/walmart-vs-target-a-political-divide-among-shoppers
So far, my employer (a global firm with US state and federal contracts) is standing strong with its DEI policy, as it serves our corporate culture well, and our executives regularly affirm that.
It's on them to restore their image though. Good luck.
(it has a chunk to do with the decision makers’ priors as well as spinal stiffening)
1. Forget your brand and retail principles
2. Don’t hire enough workers to improve customer experience
3. Fail at crucial Supply operations
I am deliberately punishing Target for cancelling its DEI policies & DEI programs for customers & vendors. Target's racism is unacceptable!
Stupid to follow lead of felon Donald Trump, a despicable white supremacist!
Also, when I joined COSTCO, I made sure to tell the customer service lady it was because of its diversity practices and she mentioned how many new members had told her the same thing
Well, there you are.
Corporations are not friends Corporations are weathervanes. By all means props to those that do buck the trend. but:
So.
Corporations gonna corporate 🥹😂
This time, I realized that I could get it at an office store which I did.
Now that I’ve though out of the box, I’ll default to the Targets and Walmarts much less.
Why support them when their leaders have kissed the ring?
A lot of consumer trust is related to the integrity with which they view a corporation’s leadership - if Target is bending over backwards for the current political moment it communicates to customers that their word on anything, not just DEI, can’t be taken at face value.
I've made at least 4 Costco trips in that same time period, and it's a 40 min drive (one way) from where I live.
As God intended.
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- excruciating own-goals, pissing off both the Left and the Right w/in a year
- incredibly poor merchandising and inventory mgmt
- under-investing in stores (so many are looking very beat)
so glad we sold out the last of our position in Q2/Q3 last year
he's simply not fit to lead this co given the *execution* errors they are constantly blaming on macro or other factors
the reason COST wins is bc they have a well oiled machine that adapts quickly to mkt changes while TGT fails