Target foot traffic falls for the eighth consecutive week after the retailer ended its DEI programs. Meanwhile at Costco, which kept its DEI programs, foot traffic has been up for 13th straight weeks.
Comments
Log in with your Bluesky account to leave a comment
It's so dumb! So many of us could spend so much post-Amazon money there but between their LGBTQ backtracking and the DEI BS it's Costco and other places all the way.
I haven’t bought anything there since they ended DEI.
I kinda sucks though. There’s alot of LGBTQ people who work there and I feel like they are being left out in the cold
:O Oh yay! I went all of March without shopping at Target and it was really hard and I figured most people probably forgot and stopped. I'm so glad to hear others kept it up too! :3 Great job whoever else did!
It's surprising when I notice how much of my clothing is from Costco. Love that store. Target is all self-check out near me, stopped going there even before they bent the knee.
Target peddles cheaply made crap, treats their workers like dirt, and who knows about the people actually manufacturing those goods. It’s sad that it took a DEI scandal to wake people up.
I haven't been to Target in months and I've basically eliminated Amazon. What I've found is that I don't really need a lot of the things I was buying from either.
It's hard -- no one place can replace Amazon. And it can be a pain to have to go a couple places looking for a particular product. Like I said, it turns out that when faced with that, I realized I didn't really "need" that thing after all, or I certainly didn't need it in two days.
For sure, living in a suburb has made it easier. One of my friends lives in a more rural area and it's hard to give up Amazon simply bc of the delivery. For her, she said, "stores are far and gas is expensive."
Oh completely.
I have been in those WalMart or nothing towns and bought stuff from the store. It’s what you have to do. These are protests to hurt the companies, not people.
This is a very important point. Unless you live in the most remote areas, its not that hard to not use it. Im im my 30s i rarely have an active prime subscription (regular delivery is like 3 days just wait) and only ever buy a few random things a year.
We were thinking of signing up for Target Circle... until they dropped their DEI program. And I'm just starting to get into Costco delivery (it can be slow compared to Prime but if you're buying weeks/months worth of something, it's not a big deal).
Their same day delivery through Instacart is also great and they give you a $20 discount to Instacart plus so you don’t pay the up charge if you don’t have an account.
The consumer economy is finding out once people break a habit, they discover they don’t need it- same for Facebook,Instagram,Twitter- they ONLY understand money
This one is hard because I have a relative with special needs that works there and we know that those special employees have such a hard time finding work if they lose a job. So while I am boycotting, I pray for those diverse employees who have limited opportunities.
I saw Target groveling on GMA this morning giving three “contestants” a $100 gift card each and promoting the store for all your Easter needs. Like FU! Easter is supposed to be a celebration of being good human beings & helping the less fortunate- not padding the coffers of some bigot’s bankroll.
We stopped shopping there the day they bent the knee. We aren't going back. If Costco doesn't have it then there's this thing called a "supermarket" that almost always does.
Is there any data on Sam’s vs. Costco? I hate to be a downer but “correlation is not causation” = a lesson we all need to have learned from covid if not from a statistics course. Maybe it’s traffic in bulk savings stores rather than a moral/ethical choice. I hope it’s because Costco = the good guys.
Fiancé and I were in HPB this weekend in San Antonio. They have posters all over their shelves speaking out against banning books. It made both us librarians happy to see, especially in Texas.
We the People have the power of the pocketbook! Money is the only thing these thieving motherfuckers understand. Hit ‘em where it hurts! Hell-to-the-YES! 🔥
They keep mentioning that the Target Fast ends on Easter, but honestly, I don't think most people will go back after having 40 days to try other other options. Not to mention those who aren't participating in the fast, but have just decided to no longer shop there.
Yep, once you find new places to shop, it becomes a new habit. Everyone in sales knows it's way easier to keep existing customers than create new ones, but Target and Amazon have decided to create new ones for other businesses. They've both already lost hundreds in sales from me.
Yeah, turns out slapping your main customer base in the face and reneging on your promises to marginalized communities while exploiting your workers and selling increasingly subpar products for inflated prices is not a winning business strategy
I worked at target and I cannot emphasize enough how aggressively they go after even the smallest of shoplifters. They're just as bad as Walmart, if not worse, but duped America with the rainbow capitalism bullshit
Makes sense. I knew they couldn't possibly be that great (they're a corporation, after all) but stuff like helping small Black-owned businesses get their products on the shelves made me feel like they weren't AWFUL awful. Now they turned their back on that? I'm out.
Maybe they had a couple higher ups in the company that understood the value of doing that 🤔 Sadly corporations are gonna corporation at the end of the day
I don't want to say "GOOD" because the Target in our town does generate money for it. But if the company is going to turn its back on the inclusion and respect that helped build its reputation out of fear of what Donald Trump would do? I'll take any retailer over them in a heartbeat.
What they don't seem to understand /forget is almost everyone is some kind of "minority"🤦 be it a woman, physically disabled, mentally disabled, neurodivergent, poc, trans, gay, elderly, below the poverty line, ect. Like???? Women alone are MORE than 50% of most populations 😑!
Their products have reflected this too. i noticed many kids books about black hair, gay books, and other “woke” things have been taken out but now there is a dedicated bible section!!!!
I have stopped shopping at Target and I've been sending the money I've saved by not "impulse buying" things I didn't really need of to the ACLU and other organizations that are working for the good American public. Feels like a win for me.
I can get almost everything I need at Costco. Yay!
I feel like there’s an additional unknowable opportunity cost that they lost in that there were thousands of customers looking for a replacement for Amazon who WOULD have chosen target if they hadn’t shown their whole ass.
Absolutely! I’m just one data point, but I started sharply reducing my Amazon purchases last year and Target was my replacement “everything” store, but they basically decided they didn’t want any of my money right when I was prepared to give them more. 🤷🏾♀️
Having a Costco membership has helped - I’ve been a member for like 25 years and I’m lucky enough to have 3 of them within 20 minutes of me but honestly I’ve just had to spend more time and money researching and shopping at multiple stores. And also buying less overall.
This is me. I quit Target the minute I read their announcement. Just joined Costco recently. I will never go back to Target regardless if they change anything.
Keep it up everyone! They can't try to make money and wring good PR from Black brands while closing off the routes for greater generational Black success. Fuck them in the face!
For most of us it's not about a set date for boycotting. We won't be going back to a company that showed us they are so willing to kill the communities they have made marketing to a major part of their business plan. We aren't a holiday to pull out once a year.
Yeah, once betrayed always betrayed. Brands that aren’t loyal to the consumers they rely on don’t magically get that trust back even when they do an about face. Costco doesn’t seem to have any problem putting people first, they didn’t need correction on basic morals.
Instead they doubled down and openly refused to be a garbage company. It's sad that other CEOs aren't seeing that very profitable example & following it. I worked for Costco, it's always been a good company.
My problem with that is how they bowed under maga pressure and removed their LGBTQ merch, and then backpedalled when we boycotted, but then pulled their DEI. The only thing they learned is marketing strategy and even that they're doing poorly. This was the final strike for a lot of us not the first
I’m one of them!! Been boycotting Target since they did the DEI thing. For a Costco membership, and shop as local as I can!
It’s been working out.
I was a Target regular after they welcomed trans people.
They’ve lost me for good.
Maybe you have an awesome little indie shop near you? I took a chance on one in my new neighborhood and I get free delivery and always reach a human by the third ring. If they weren’t an option I’d be getting Costco home delivery.
Target can just go away. They lock up everything and it takes 20 minutes or more for an employee to maybe show up to let you take the $5 shampoo. I go to Costco about every two weeks and will continue to show support for them.
It just amazes me that Target was the company always pushing pride month ads and at least trying to be more lgbtq+ forward and was one of the first companies to bend the knee.
It was beyond obvious who their customer base was. Target will not survive the decade.
This is what happens when rich, bigoted pricks don’t know where their money comes from. Did they actually think conservatives would rally and become huge fans of Target for no reason other than shared hatred?
It infuriates me how much these corporations underestimate us. They truly think we are stupid and lazy. Let’s teach them a lesson. Happy boycotting everybody. Fuck these shills.
After the changes that were implemented after George Floyd’s killing. I shopped at Target more than I did before. I wasn’t a regular shopper, but I popped in every so often. Now that they’ve bent the knee to DT, I don’t shop there at all.
I'm glad Target is feeling it. It's like they have no idea that white people are going to be the minority in this country in the not-so-distant future. They folded like a cheap suit to the Dump administration.
i used to love shopping at target, but i kinda organically hadnt gone in a while before the DEI cut. and frankly, i've felt no desire to go back. i needed to cut back on my impulse buying anyway.
With Trump trying to get rid of DEI, we can see all the incompetent white people promoted/hired solely because they're connected or sucked up to the boss (and white). They are kind of proving that the mission to get rid of DEI is just so white men don't have as much competition for jobs.
Glad I stocked up on the laundry detergent I can only get at Target before they kissed the ring. There are some things I can't get at HEB, but I'll be locating them elsewhere.
Hoping to get a Costco membership soon. There's only one in my area, and it's a ways away, but I can make the jaunt.
Dumbass execs forgot that they were the alternative to the far right supporting Walter n family companies... So if they don't stand for anything good WHY keep shopping there? Pharmacy is the only reason for me to step inside anymore. (No, there's no other more reliable pharmacy for me )
It's almost like people don't like when companies treat people like shit on a grand scale. We all know that all companies treat employees poorly, that's just capitalism, but treating them as if their humanity doesn't exist, that's several steps too far.
Fwiw I'm at Costco regularly and the last two times I've been to target, in the last two years, was because my vaccine was at the CVS located within. Hard no on any shopping there.
Dropped them the day they dropped DEI. And I enjoyed shopping there for decades. But they’ve lost me for good now. Costco is literally one block from me and it’s great.
Hi Target. My household stopped buying from you when you dropped DEI. It’s been a real
PITA, because we used to shop at your store on the regular, but it’s worth knowing we are contributing to the boycott. We will not return until you reinstate your DEI programs.
I’m not going back. If they backtrack and return to diversity, equity, and inclusion, I will still wait to be sure they mean it before I trust them again.
Billionaire and CEO betrayals of everyday Americans must and will be slammed hard.
“WOKE = I Care - Stand UP for Democracy!!” With linked hands. Here’s another sign for demonstrations. It is laid out for 24”x18” signboards. Please download from my Google Drive folder and use. See my post, Signs for Democracy! for the link.
Target was always my go to for household supplies. Even after they got flack for Pride merchandise last year. Now, no way in hell am I shopping there, corporate fascist need to suffer.
This is a shame. I have a Target by my house. I liked supporting it. I stopped shopping there. Makes me feel bad for the employees. Maybe they can get Costco jobs.
Comments
https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674276604
Gotta go, I'm off to Costco now...
I kinda sucks though. There’s alot of LGBTQ people who work there and I feel like they are being left out in the cold
Both @Amazon and @Target will never get another dime from me.
I'm no stock market analyst, but are the stocks of good companies, with sound management supposed to do that?
Seems like a pretty rough quarter...
Maybe the stockholders should ring up the CEO and ask him WTF...
Can I get things I need there? Yes.
Do I need to go there to get them? No.
Walking away was incredibly easy, especially for suburban shoppers with many choices.
I have been in those WalMart or nothing towns and bought stuff from the store. It’s what you have to do. These are protests to hurt the companies, not people.
If you don’t support DEI socially,
Your business will DIE financially
https://www.hpb.com/
Used to.
We've got "Ditch DEI and die."
I can get almost everything I need at Costco. Yay!
Doing the 40 day boycott and avoiding as much as possible in future. Pissed off *and* pissed off that they pissed me off, if that makes sense.
Worst possible time for them to forget who their customers are.
(Granted, they lose money on me coming in just for hotdogs)
Period.
Not going back as long as that dagger is in my queer back!
I did like Target, and I would want to support the notion that genuine contrition can be recognized.
But it's gonna take more than words or photos. Way more.
I don't expect companies to be the vanguard on civil rights, but they spent years and years building up good will only to torch it in under 2 years.
It will take another "years and years," for sure, if they want to recover.
It’s been working out.
I was a Target regular after they welcomed trans people.
They’ve lost me for good.
It was beyond obvious who their customer base was. Target will not survive the decade.
I will NEVER go back
Screw the Military / Veteran discount
I also stopped Walmart and Amazon in Mid February - SCREW THEM TOO & never going back
Pet food? ONLY BLUE COMPANIES for that too. Our pets are not maga either. They told me so
Hoping to get a Costco membership soon. There's only one in my area, and it's a ways away, but I can make the jaunt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYIOgwuvPkg&t=223s
PITA, because we used to shop at your store on the regular, but it’s worth knowing we are contributing to the boycott. We will not return until you reinstate your DEI programs.
Billionaire and CEO betrayals of everyday Americans must and will be slammed hard.
They were pushing the Target boycott, hard.
She’s peak demographic for Target. Hasn’t been for weeks and won’t go again unless they wise up.
But Costco gets my money now.
It has what I need on a budeget.
we LOVE a deal!
No brand names for me when I go, I know what's overpriced
Shout out to their vegetarian meat selection
Bring BACK NUGGIES!
https://www.retailbrew.com/stories/2025/03/28/target-suffers-eighth-consecutive-week-of-foot-traffic-losses-since-caving-on-dei