Target is down bad and it’s all because they didn’t have the sack to ignore Donald Trump’s demand that diversity, equity, and inclusion be banned from all American institutions.
Previously, BOSSIP reported on a quarterly sales call where C-suite executives discussed an earnings deficit but expressed hope that the Easter holiday would bolster sales and put them back on track to meet their financial goals.
Sike. The “Target Fast” boycott initiated by Pastor Jamal Bryant put a significant wrench in those plans and now it appears that things are worse than ever for the big-box retailer. According to RetailBrew, a growing number of people are opting not to shop at Target for their home essentials.
For the week that began March 17, foot traffic fell 5.7% YoY for Target, according to data from Placer.ai. That’s compared to the 7.1% it fell last week, and an average weekly decline over the last eight weeks of 6.2%.
We know that these companies are spineless and tend to favor whatever they feel is the most dominant public sentiment of the moment regarding corporate policy. For instance, during the summer of protest in 2020, Target’s efforts to embrace “Black Lives Matter” by putting Black-owned brands on their shelves were helpful despite their disingenuous timing. No one truly believed that a corporate giant cared about George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, or Sandra Bland and Target’s willingness to publicly announce that they will no longer participate in DEI initiatives is evidence of their insincere attempt to taking advantage of the social climate.
In comparison, RetailBrew notes that Target’s competitors like Costco have enjoyed growth over the same period of time.
At Costco, which unlike Target resisted demands from the Trump administration for private companies to dump their DEI programs, foot traffic has continued to grow. For the same week beginning March 17, traffic rose 5.2% YoY, and marked its 13th straight week of gains over last year.
We won’t hold our breath to hear MAGA-tized right-wingers talk about how this sales loss defies their favorite “own the libs” mantra “go woke, go broke”.
Leave a comment