Target has become the focus of consumer’s anger with the corporate retirement of diversity policies in the United States after moving from their vocal commitment to the initiative.
Last month, Target joined Walmart, McDonald’s, Ford and Lowe’s in rolling back Some of its initiatives for diversity, equity and inclusion against the growing pressure of critics.
Target announced the decision shortly after President Donald Trump signed several executive orders that restrict such initiatives within the federal government and the private sector.
A decrease in pedestrian traffic in Target stores has coincided with a consumption boycott campaign directed to the retailer, even when other brands that made similar reversions have faced little protest.
In the almost 2,000 target stores in the USA , which tracks the location data of mobile devices.
The traffic fell almost 9 percent the following week, which began on February 3, even when the visits for their rival Walmart fell less than 3 percent.
While the reason for the fall of Target’s traffic is not safe, it coincides with the activists who urge buyers to avoid the retailer.
While pleasure. Ai said that the weather and other variables could also have contributed to the decrease in store visits, their data revealed that pedestrian traffic in Target increased approximately 5 percent in four weeks before it was announced The decision.
“Target has made a big problem that it is inclusive,” said Akshay Rao, a marketing professor at Minnesota University who has studied the Target brand. “This was a surprise for customers and not in good sense.”
Rosie Myers, a 39 -year -old Los Angeles Property Manager, said that Dei’s investment in the store took her to climb her purchases target.
Myers used to visit Target “three or four times a week”, but now prioritizes black -owned brands and retailers who have defended their diversity initiatives.
“I do not want to buy in a place that does not hire me or that will not celebrate me,” said Myers, who also directs an Instagram fans account for the brand called @blackGirlsintarget.
The anger of buyers like Myers could add another challenge for Target, said Zak Stambor, a retail and electronic commerce analyst at Emarketer.
The retailer had a better holiday season than expected, but could suffer if inflation continues to increase because it is based on discretionary spending and its own private labels, said Stambor.
“The challenge now is to take buyers through the door, or on their website or application to test those products,” he added.
In the weeks since Target announced that it would end their initiatives ofi, the activists of racial justice and even the members of the founding family of the retailer have criticized the decision.
In Letter to Financial TimesAnne S and Lucy B Dayton said they were “shocked and dismayed” by the reversal of the company.
His father, Bruce Dayton, and his four brothers launched Target in 1962 as a discount subsidiary of his Minneapolis department stores. They adopted the progressive values of the city, promoting collections for Latin inheritance and the months of black history.
In 2016, he welcomed transgender customers to use the bathrooms aligned with their gender identity in the middle of the uproar on the 2016 Bathroom Law of North Carolina.
“When shrinking, Target and others are undermining the principles that have made their companies a success,” the sisters wrote in the letter.
The activists asked the black Americans and their allies to boycott Target, especially during the month of black history in February. A petition led by Jamal Bryant, an Atlanta shepherd, obtained more than 50,000 signatures. Al Sharpton, the civil rights activist, told buyers that they “buy contributions” Costco, who has maintained their initiatives ofi.
At the time of the announcement, Target said he was “implementing changes with the aim of boosting growth and staying in tune with the external panorama evolving.”
The efforts of the United States companies to diversify their labor forces and suppliers have been pressed in the last years of conservatives who allege that programs undermine meritocracy and unfairly discriminate against whites and men.
Activist Robby Starbuck He has directed social networks pressure campaigns and has taken credit for the reversals of John Deere, Toyota and others.
Target had previously positioned themselves as even, recruiting people with disabilities and those of racial minorities to the staff of their stores and appears in marketing materials, Rao said.
The retailer said that “he meets black families, communities and team members” and donated millions at social justice initiatives after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the police in Minneapolis caused a racial calculation in 2020. He also promised to increase The amount of products. It was stored from black property brands.
But Target, who did not respond to requests for comments, has retired from social causes after he is repeatedly involved in cultural wars. Limited the sales of his merchandise of the month of pride to select stores last year after some locations were shattered on objections to products with LGBT themes.
It still emphasizes customers that maintains their “commitment to inclusion”, but it is “a hard dance”, according to a person familiar with the company’s thinking.
“When I read Target’s real language, I don’t think they are so far,” said the person. “It feels like a kind of standard elimination. . . Their commitment to diversity and having an inclusive workplace feel quite strong, while other companies have been a little harder in the way they have moved away from Dei. “
But activists accuse the goal of betraying black customers who once courted.
“For some reason, Target did not understand that his decision is not only offensive, but is bad for business,” said civil rights lawyer Nekima Levy Armstrong.
Armstrong organized a protest outside the headquarters of the Minneapolis retailer last month, just kilometers from where Floyd was killed. “Many of us were regular Target buyers before making their ad.”
In the protest, the protesters cut their target credit cards and sang “black buyers matter.”