The Target thing is so funny. They had hooked pretty much every Black person I know, and then they threw it all away to make the confederate flag crowd happy just so they could not shop there too.
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Al Sharpton’s National Action Network organization stated that it was going to announce the decision to boycott Target 2 weeks ago at the NAN conference in New York. There was no announcement forthcoming. He then announces a closed door meeting with the Target CEO Brian Cornell. Sharpton will not
This is the same confederate flag crowd that is celebrating the promise of coal mines returning so yeah, unemployed, drunk, and can’t afford Target anyway. So stupid.
I really still cannot wrap my head around why a company would actually announce its anti DEI. Like quietly do it if you’re that awful but to announce it just confuses me. They have to acknowledge potential consequences at some point in the chain of command?
Especially weird when target had nothing unique about them that made the place indispensable. We didn't even have to shop at Target. They just found out too late.
I always shopped there BECAUSE they seemed to be inclusive. Not anymore. But my Hitler mother in law had always boycotted them because of their inclusivity and now she recently started shopping there.
It’s also weird that they did it almost immediately after Trump took office. I think it was within a week. They saw that EO and just rolled right over.
Target is like that asshole you dated who dumped you and now keeps calling and is desperate to get you back but now you see him for who he really is and wouldn't touch him with a 10 foot pole, even if your "mutual" friend Al says you should
Good. Everyone who bends the knee needs to learn a lesson. First, stand on integrity. Second, you will lose customers by caving. Three, the regime will just try to get more out of you and you will not be safe for your compliance.
I'm white and I shopped there because they touted their small Black business products and celebrated pride. Then they flipped. They won't get my business again. I do like loading up my online cart and then just leaving it. I hope it annoys them. Luckily Old Navy fits my kids better anyway.
It's so unfortunate. Target was great when one of their stores was burned down during the fight for justice for George Floyd. They acknowledged the pain in the community and said stores can be rebuilt.
I think this has to be a regional protest. Our Target is packed, always. Options are slim to shop anywhere else than Target or Walmart
Small businesses are limited and don’t carry the basics. I hope Target reconsidered its stance but, I don’t see an impact locally where we live
Almost certainly in places where there aren't alternative options, Target will continue to see business. But I think that means your experience is the regional one. Nationwide they are hurting badly.
“It’s unclear to us as Twin Cities organizers why Target CEO Brian Cornell would call for a meeting with the Reverend Al Sharpton given the fact that Sharpton has absolutely zero involvement in the Target boycott.”
I suggest everyone upset with any corporation bending the knee to Trump and MAGA let their voices be heard by writing to the companies to express their displeasure. Otherwise the corporations will find all kinds of ways to blame other reasons for their losses. https://corporate.target.com/about/contact-help
I’m not shopping at Target anymore. We need to wield our economic power and show the corporate donor class the price they will pay for ignoring citizens and supporting fascists
If you rent a car for a vacation even once a year, use Costco Travel and the savings will pay for your annual membership. Plus: rotisserie chickens for $4.99 and the venerable hot dog deal.
It's so weird to me, target in general was never a confederate flag-y place. It was very liberal coded since ever and it was their bread and butter financially. I don't understand why they looked the gift horse in the mouth. I'm sure some reps shopped there but it usually gave off a "liberal" vibe.
I think that’s what attracted the DEI complainers. They came for Magnolia and found rainbows. That’s when they mouthed off and Target Stupid prevailed.
It makes me realize they were only being opportunistic from the beginning. Any org with actual convictions wouldn't have been swayed by pressure from bigots.
I was looking for a bath rug yesterday. One shop was in the same shopping center as a Target. I couldn't find one at the other shop, but I couldn't bring myself to go inside Target.
Funny- my first trip to Costco after I got my membership a couple of months ago I picked up a new bath mat as an impulse item. Ours was getting pretty ratty and I saw my new mat as I was heading for some free cheese samples.
So, of course, the Target CEO decides to fix things by announcing he's... going to meet with Al Sharpton. Otherwise known as the "I'm meeting with my Black spiritual advisor" stage of clueless racism.
I’m bummed because they’ve got good stores near where I live and work, but I’ll be damned if I’ll shop there now. And no, Al Sharpton isn’t going to change my mind on that…
I walked through a few weeks ago.
It was terrible, clothes & shoes all over the floor. The dollar area was about empty. Two white ladies were by the trying on area, moaning about their live.
Only person I saw working was running floor sweeper, he was Hispanic.
Absolutely positively accurately —literally every single African American I know was patronizing Target. Now not a single family member has entered their stores since Feb.
The beauty is I don’t have to spend a dime there ever again. As my Grandma Eleanor used to say: “My pocketbook, my choice.”
Also, it’s interesting that Walmart stock and target stock have basically been on opposite trajectories the last 3 months. A lot of people point to Costco as a stock success, and it definitely is, but middle of the Venn between “shit sold at target” and “shit sold at Walmart” is much larger.
Isn’t it shocking? All the more so because retailers like target have reams of data not only about the shopping behaviors of their clientele, but about WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE their clientele are. All they had to do was look inside their own data to understand how unpopular this was going to be.
Exactly. The speed at which Target and all the rest (corps, law firms, universities) bowed down to Trump shows their original attempts at DEI were nothing more than window dressing. Target in particular was simply too dumb to understand their customer base and anticipate the economic consequence.
They had such cute home goods and decor, and for a while I was getting most of my towels, lighting, etc. at Target. They had affordable collections by famous designers. They had the loyalty of a broad swath of consumers, and they threw it all away to keep a lunatic manbaby from having a tantrum. 🙄
I haven't stepped into a target in months. It feels good. It was my go to place for browsing and impulse buys. I go to Michael's now for more ideas and inspiration.
I can't stop laughing about the fact that **a brick and mortar department store** thought that capitulating to fashies was going to make them bulletproof. in this economy??
Just this week I needed a new plant pot. A year ago, I'd have gone to Target or Walmart to get one. Instead, I went to TJ Maxx & got one. Just my little protest.
And walmart is following in targets footsteps!! I've ALREADY ended my business with walmart, going on 4 months now, I NEVER HAVE shopped target, and I never will!!
Because they value the dollars that white people spend more. Even though they are literally worth the same amount. It’s insane. But that’s racism for you.
💯💯💯I’d wager that the confederate crowd were never shopping at Target, they were never going to start, just wanted to be placated to… but isn’t that always the case…
The only time they stepped inside target was to Livestream attacking people and breaking things acting like idiot children with no parents. They instantly got out on a pedestal my maga and they get some weird fucked up fame that lasts maybe 15 min
I went into my local Target last
month and it was pretty dead. The only cashier on duty was a big jolly gay man wearing a Target pride tshirt. He looked so over it.
On top of that, I kept trying to tell my fellow queers that Target only wanted our money and to buy from LGBTQ+ businesses. I kept hearing crap like “no, it’s acceptance!” and “OK boomer” (nope, I’m #GenerationJones). Now here we are. 🖕🏽Racism 🖕🏽 Rainbow Capitalism 🖕🏽Target
and Trump had only been in office like a handful of days. If they'd only waited a week or so longer they'd have seen the backlash happening and companies successfully resisting.
Nah, given the political leanings of many upper level corporate types, I expect that a batch of decision makers at the company have just been waiting with seething resentment to ditch the queers and coloreds.
What they want is irrelevant. It's obvious now that publicly ending DEI is bad for business. Signing up with Trump just means tanking your stock and maybe losing you your job.
Serious. The confed flag folks avoided Target like the plague. Could not get my conspiracy theory-loving relatives to shop at Target to save their lives. It was Walmart all the way for them.
Idk if it was DEI. I think the attempt to get them to wear something actually fashionable, was too much.
I left Home Depot to go to Target 18 years ago before the letters DEI. I was shocked at our annual meeting of how many women store managers there were, but super impressed. I know that 50% of our managers are women.
And I know 25% are minority women. I’m proud to work for that. I’m proud that my manager at Target who leads 1 of 28 groups is a Black Woman. I’m proud my last boss was a Hispanic man and that regardless of any letters I and many others won’t let that focus
Go anywhere. Our team is our community and I’m gonna make sure of that. Everyone is entitled of course to their beliefs but I’m staying and fighting for what’s right 😁
It started with the Karens bitching over rainbows for children and Target just went downhill from there. I never liked the stores and their buying practices were always questionable.
Costco, groceries from the Kroger & Albertsons umbrellae, clothing/housewares from the Ross & TJMaxx umbrellae, local hardware stores, eBay, many more listed at https://shoppingblue.org
I like Meijer when I'm visiting my family in Michigan. Here in Washington we have Fred Meyer, but they are owned by Kroger which I'm pretty sure is no bueno.
I agree with Subgothius' choices and will only add that while it is a little more challenging, it has also been fun and rewarding to find the alternatives. Local shops and even small stores online.
I know I don't get it right all of the time. I still buy some stuff from Amazon, though try to limit it. I'm trying to get as much second hand as a I can. For instance, I want a small rug right now so I'm checking FB marketplace, Craigslist. I love West Elm so I check their sales.
And they could have auto-corrected early on but it’s way too late for amends. I miss my Target cashier - she’s been working at my regular Target for as long as I WAS shopping there. That’s the collateral damage - the associates.
Black folks really loved Target that much? I divorced myself from them in the early 2000s because they seemed to think plus-sized women were the same as pregnant women. Took my money and my wide behind elsewhere.
and did it while/after the failed presidential campaign embraced Liz Cheney. there's a larger movement to capitulate to the right wing and they're showing us who they are
The Target near me has 60% DEI employees both men and women from every corner of the world and a couple special needs employees no one else would hire. I choose to still support these workers but stopped online shopping
I loved Target and part of it was I loved their stuff but the other part was it supposed to be better than Walmart. I haven’t walked into one in months.
If Target wants to make ammends, the best way is to donate (divide amongst) 30% of its annual earnings forever to HBCUs. They're gonna write it off anyway. We need to make our demands as immense as the money we've made them
I worked at Wegmans food markets. The DEI program was a annual 15 minute video that urged everyone to not be an asshole to others. It was a pretty good reminder of the central teaching of Jesus.
Women too! I told my mom I don’t know a single friend who will ever step foot in there and I don’t know a single thing they could do to ever win any of us back. They’ll be done in a few years or a shell of what they used to be.
I basically bought all of my Xmas gifts because if that stunt they pulled last year… making everyone believe they were in the right side! Haven’t stepped foot in or purchased online from them since
It’s wild because they did the same thing Elon did. Like Trump and nem we’re not pro EV. They are big oil because of their donors. I mean how many republicans are out here protesting “save the earth”? So for Target to preemptively drop us? Yeah it’s f@ck them! ✌🏽
I never shopped at target because they didn’t have anything I needed and the groceries priced too high.
My wife shopped there for clothes sometimes,the men’s clothes sucked.
I am not impressed with this boycott. What is more important is their hiring & promotion practices, not their slogans. The boycott is transferring business to Amazon & Walmart.
It's literally transferring business to Costco which upheld DEI. It's been reported how Costco has benefited.
I'm literally one of the ones who got a Costco membership for the first time because Target ended their DEI practices. And every time I go there it's so crowded including today.
Yup, the Costco in our area is doing fantastically well, I’ve seen as I finally renewed my membership there as I switched from Target. (I had dropped it since I didn’t need Costco quantities for awhile.) I also shop more now at a local Union grocery store, among other things. No Walmart or Amazon.
We literally did all our household shopping at Target. And when they stopped DEI, we finally got a Costco membership and now trying our best to do most of our household shopping there now.
And I HATE changing my shopping routine.
Don't be a Target or a Columbia, be a Costco and a Harvard!
Totally agree. I told a Target manager that now when I pick up CVS prescriptions I walk out, no more shopping at Target. Asked her if their rejection of DEI would have them remove the riding carts for customers with disabilities.
And my point in mentioning that I hate to change my shopping routine... Once I know what I like and what works well for me, I don't have to want to research new products.
But I was willing to do it to give my business to Costco and take away business from Target.
I will say it is tough because Costco doesn't have the same variety as Target.
Simple things like trying to find lavender scented garbage bags for the kitchen -- which is a cheat to help keep away the maggots in the outside garbage can when it gets really hot out -- aren't available at Costco.
I also have lavender dryer sheets that work as well, but it's just a thing where I just want it in the trash bags so I don't have to do or buy something else, since Hefty does make Lavender ones. And I only need them in the summer. Don't have to worry about bugs in the winter...
...but I have literally had maggots once or twice in our large green garbage can during very hot days before I switched to lavender bags, and it's a pain to wash out the garbage can. So I never want to do that again if I can avoid it.
I like free & clear items & Costco has the f&c ALL laundry detergent & has a non-colored hand soap (albeit may not be totally "free"), but doesn't have the f&c dish soap.
So there are certain things I'm accustomed to that I still can't get at Costco.
I'm not a Costco member, but everyone I know says they take member feedback seriously. If you haven't already, consider letting them know what you want. Obviously, it won't guarantee anything, but there's no harm in asking.
Thanks. I've been meaning too, as well as letting Target know we've mostly moved to Coscto to shop due to their DEI policy.... just so much on my plate right now.
And hard MAGA don’t even go there because of the lgbtq items they have during June. So they cowed to a group who are over at Wal-Mart anyway. Shot themselves for nothing.
Very large portion of blacks did not support Kamala. Even with her shameless pandering. You are definetelt over estimating the pct of black folks that will follow yall into the pride week tuckable swimsuit for boys that want to pretend they’re girls.
Idk. My CVS Pharmacy is inside a Target. I love my pharmacy and their staff. They know me by my name. Every once in a while, I'll get items from Target while waiting for my scripts. It would be hard for me to give up on Target despite the comments here😢
Musk did the same thing. Not a lot of fat rednecks driving EVs. So Leon insulted the very demographic that made him super rich. Don allegedly buys one of his cars. Sure...
It's crazy to see all the communities that built and support Target, that they just threw away. Thinking the bigoted alt right was going to stop shopping at Amazon and Walmart to go to Target...
As a former employee of that corporation-- I worked at their import warehouse in Lacey, WA, ages ago-- nothing about this is at all surprising.
Target's management loves paying lip service to diversity and inclusion...and among my superiors were some of the most bigoted human beings imaginable.
I worked with a young black dude who, by any measure, was an outstanding employee, but for "some" reason they really wanted to get rid of him, so...rather than terminate him without cause, and be on the hook for unemployment insurance, they claimed he stole from the company store.
He got a lawyer, who demanded that Target furnish evidence of the theft. When they couldn't meet this demand, the labor courts and the state human rights commission awarded him over 100k for wrongful termination.
The Senior Director of the warehouse, who was the subject of a litany of grievances filed with the Dept of Labor and the state human rights commission, failed up to a high level job in Washington State government...where she's also been on the receiving end of numerous HR complaints.
Besides the racism, that right there was a major reason for the Project 25 anti-DEI blueprint. Not enough whites were failing upward into comfortable jobs and lifestyles which they had come to assume was their American birthright.
Soon they will all be working in the trump admin at the stupidest of positions telling us how we don't need to eat three meals a day it's perfectly fine and healthy to fast several days a week or some stupid shit I can't imagine yet
This! I already had mostly cut out my local target bc of that BS. Not waiting around for someone to unlock the gummy vitamins. I still went for groceries and cards and some clothes but not anymore. Never going back.
We're all surprised that the biz strategy "let's alienate our base to cater to the people who have a new senseless culture war freakout every other week" didn't work.
yah. all the black and white women i know stopped shopping there when they decided to go anti-dei. their bread and butter was middle class white and black women.
my racist piece of shit dad supported the hell out of it. he still doesn’t shop at target
My husband needed a hoodie when we were on vacation recently and it was hard to find one not going to Target, but we managed. We finally found one at a Burlington.
Target is cheap mass produced crap at high prices. I never understood why anyone would shop there. go to Walmart or Costco for something fast and cheap. Go to goodwill for something dirt cheap. Go to a retail chain for something mid-range and go to the mall for something pricey
Its crazy that they built their whole brand about being "the progressive store" and then are shocked when they find out the lip service alone wasn't enough
Honestly what they had was super-cheesy; a few years ago I was going to buy something just to support the display, but everything they had was cheesy plastic trinkets or shirts aimed at teenagers
All of the obvious "just being a good person" elements of this aside, I'll never understand the decision from the business angle. Don't they know that Walmart already also exist?
Not only did they shoot themselves in the foot, they made a big announcement that "we hated pretending to be good the whole time; the decency ends now; also, we aren't promoting minorities anymore."
Saw one interview with a Black gentleman saying (paraphrased from memory), "At least Walmart just openly hates human beings in general; I'll take that over pretending to be my friend & then bailing once that looks like it might be inconvenient."
They were doing well enough I guess that, given the choice between them and some other big box store, I'd go to target. It's too bad they didn't just squander that good will, they left a smoking crater.
Idiotic both morally and as a purely business decision.
They will go to Target only when they hear that there is a pride display so they can lose their shit performatively and then go shop at the store that stocks firearms.
And also forgot that many of us “white” families now Celebrate how our families have become multiracial and have embraced each other fully and completely.
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Target literally chose the lose/lose option.
Eat trash
"in the morning rutabaga soup, for lunch rutabaga steak, for dinner rutabaga cake"
Home Depot
Exxon
Coors
Walmart
Uline
All contributed to politicians who overturned Roe!
Instead, they bent the knee prematurely, and ended up looking like fucking stooges.
Like, who did they think their customers were? The confederate flag folks were at Walmart anyway.
Because there's some of us that would never step foot in a Walmart.
Small businesses are limited and don’t carry the basics. I hope Target reconsidered its stance but, I don’t see an impact locally where we live
https://retailwire.com/target-foot-traffic-down/
The bigots like to get boycotted companies on Faux news for folks to throw money at them (my pillow, tesla) but now they just steal from the govt
threw that away
TAKE MY MONEY
I’ve heard others use it for international travel and swear by the savings there, too
I walked through a few weeks ago.
It was terrible, clothes & shoes all over the floor. The dollar area was about empty. Two white ladies were by the trying on area, moaning about their live.
Only person I saw working was running floor sweeper, he was Hispanic.
It may as well be, it’s been deadsville for months.
The beauty is I don’t have to spend a dime there ever again. As my Grandma Eleanor used to say: “My pocketbook, my choice.”
They were *never* going to attract the red hat douchebro brigade. It's corporate cowardice at its worst.
https://uniteagainstevil.org/blog/f/direct-action-3-the-bucks-stop-here
On a running list with others that I’m never spinning back...
No more
money they received last year!
https://corporate.target.com/sustainability-governance/governance-and-reporting/corporate-governance/board-of-directors-and-management
month and it was pretty dead. The only cashier on duty was a big jolly gay man wearing a Target pride tshirt. He looked so over it.
✌️🔥
you LITERALLY can't buy that quality or volume of advertising
and they decided to light it all on fire to appease a disloyal pack of slimeweasels
They were too busy pissing themselves, I guess.
Bigoted or not. They ain't doing it now.
https://www.thestreet.com/retail/target-ceo-makes-bold-move-to-dodge-big-boycott-from-shoppers
Idk if it was DEI. I think the attempt to get them to wear something actually fashionable, was too much.
Thanks for your reply.
They didn’t even make the confederate flag crowd happy. They are suing them anyways.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/21/business/target-dei-lawsuit/index.html
We boycotted right away, but I know others delayed with gave it a strangling effect.
I really love this for them.
I would never give them any money.
Not ever since I saw the documentary on how awful they are.
My wife shopped there for clothes sometimes,the men’s clothes sucked.
https://gofund.me/40413acc
I'm literally one of the ones who got a Costco membership for the first time because Target ended their DEI practices. And every time I go there it's so crowded including today.
Bwaa ha ha haaaa!!!!!
And I HATE changing my shopping routine.
Don't be a Target or a Columbia, be a Costco and a Harvard!
But I was willing to do it to give my business to Costco and take away business from Target.
Simple things like trying to find lavender scented garbage bags for the kitchen -- which is a cheat to help keep away the maggots in the outside garbage can when it gets really hot out -- aren't available at Costco.
So there are certain things I'm accustomed to that I still can't get at Costco.
I truly hope they'll diversify products more.
Target's management loves paying lip service to diversity and inclusion...and among my superiors were some of the most bigoted human beings imaginable.
Lessons need to be learned.
my racist piece of shit dad supported the hell out of it. he still doesn’t shop at target
Except they just now tore those pages out of the history books.
The one thing they had going was ‘not trashy like Walmart’ and they threw it away! Insane behavior.
Between Costco local drug stores, and markets, I haven't missed Target and am not returning.
Idiotic both morally and as a purely business decision.