r/Anticonsumption • u/Healthy_Block3036 • 13d ago

Corporations Target foot traffic falls for seventh consecutive week after it dismantled DEI

https://www.retailbrew.com/stories/2025/03/21/target-foot-traffic-falls-for-seventh-consecutive-week-after-it-dismantled-dei
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u/kttuatw 13d ago

I honestly don’t care about Target anymore. They’ve shown us where they stand, now it’s our turn.

220

u/Ok_Condition5837 13d ago

Feel the exact same way! Boycott until I actually see change.

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u/not-ofearth 13d ago

At this point, I've adapted. I don't see myself ever going back.

I worked at target from 18 to 24. It's a shame that I ate up all the values and goals the said they were about.

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u/HideSolidSnake 13d ago

All their "non-corporate" speak and ability to be flexible on hair and piercings/tattoos. All for the "please, PLEASE don't unionize!" videos.

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u/dropdeadplz 11d ago

I’ll never forget the union propaganda videos they made us watch at orientation 💀

I worked there for the first half of my 20s because it was one of the few places that allowed my piercings, tattoos and brightly colored hair. I’m still friends with former coworkers because it was a most diverse mix of just all around good people I’d ever met, and most of us were LGBTQ+ Target does not GAF about employees, just money.

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u/the-redacted-word 13d ago

TIL there are people that actually buy into cheesy corporate talk of major retailer chain stores…

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u/Anastariana 13d ago

Propaganda is a hell of a thing. They wouldn't bother if it didn't work. Its especially effective on young people who don't realise what is really going on.

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u/not-ofearth 12d ago

This is exactly why it worked on me. I got a job super young. They tell you how much you're valued, part of a team, they wave around promotions like a feather cat toy, if you get to be higher levels they'll have a college reimbursement program. When you don't have a lot of options you'll get hooked , lined and sinkered.

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u/Kovah01 13d ago

Not enough. We are sick of the corporate performative bullshit. Let them go away. Bring back smaller stores that employ more people. Cost of goods will go up but more people will have more money.

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u/No_Hall_2467 13d ago

Corporations hold down salaries so CEOs make more money, then use all this great "profit" against the very people they want to buy their crap. Time for everyone to be more frugal, find alternate ways to get what you need, keep your money for yourself - they won't help you if you have to go to hospital and can't work - you need every penny you have.

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u/RelativeAnxious9796 13d ago

no half measures. boycott until they go the way of ames.

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u/Angrymarge 13d ago

Boycott forever. We need to stop propping up a system that will inevitably end it destruction (overconsumption). Besides food and a few basics (diapers, etc.), we don’t really need anything from target, or other stores like them. Degrowth for a habitable planet is the only way.

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u/BallsDeepinYourMammi 12d ago

I work at one of their distribution centers and it’s noticeable there

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u/VastSeaweed543 13d ago

That’s what I keep telling people. They’re free to chase whichever dollars they want, it’s a free country (for now)

But the natural byproduct of that is alienation of the other demographic(s) which can end this way.

Hope whichever group your going after spends enough to keep you afloat since you specifically wanted their money. It appears it’s not…

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u/SilverSight 13d ago

Ok but Costco tho. That place is still great.

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u/Lots42 13d ago

Costco just delivers more essentials for far, far cheaper.

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u/irritated_illiop 13d ago

And somehow manages to pay their employees well while doing it.

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u/Frosty_Lab_1475 13d ago

Because they have a cap on their margins

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u/kttuatw 13d ago

Yeah, Costco is not on my boycott list.

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u/Fluid-Signal-654 11d ago

Costco is the opposite of anticonsumption.

Its business model is to get you to buy more than you need.

Anyone promoting Costco on an anticonsumption thread is being duped.

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u/MaidPoorly 13d ago

I did most of my last minute shopping at target because it was the closest store to me. I’d run in for one thing like milk and end up spending $15-20. Now I skip target and im reducing my spending habits because these companies are too greedy.

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u/Dismal_Information83 13d ago

I feel the same. I used to shop there because their headquarters are local and they employ so many here in Minneapolis. But now, meh, they may as well be Walmart. There is nothing there I need that I can’t get elsewhere.

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u/jagrbro68 13d ago

Hell, they decided to close up shop around Portland metro. They’re only now in the “white suburbs” and it’s ridiculous. I’m from MN/SD and Target was too easy for groceries and clothes.

Once they decided to push out last summer, I’ve been done with them… let alone there racist shit now.

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u/idekbruno 12d ago

Am I missing something? There are like 15 Targets in the Portland area

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u/jagrbro68 11d ago

There’s a difference between Portland and “Portland”

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u/idekbruno 11d ago

Yeah, you said “around Portland metro” not “specifically within the boundaries of Portland city limits” lol

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u/Illustrious_Fan_8148 13d ago

And its expensive to boot

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u/Ok-Armadillo7517 13d ago

No to mention everything is WAY over priced like wtf these pants I got one time were 20$ when you know it only costed like 60¢ to make 🙄 and NONE of that profit goes to the wage slave who made it just like me I fucking hate capitalism ❤️‍🔥

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u/TurbulentBlock7290 13d ago edited 13d ago

On the one hand yes, on the other, where are people buying things? Amazon? Idk how much better that is. If it’s mom and pop shops, then that’s great and a return to small businesses, but let’s be honest, those places only survive if the consumer decides they’re ok paying a little more to avoid the targets, Walmarts and amazons of the world.

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u/Quirky-Skin 13d ago

I guess that depends on how u feel about how your money is spent. I understand people have budgets but one of the few choices we get on spending is consumer spending.

You don't get to decide how to spend on taxes or utilities but you can decide where to buy clothes and household items etc. 

I choose to spend my hard earned money at any place but even if costs more. If I can't get it mom pop I go with bigger businesses that have started as a Cleveland company (I live in Ohio)

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u/Any_Professional_683 13d ago

It doesn’t have to be expensive, at least if you’re close enough to a city metro and have transportation. I haven’t been shopping at Walmart, target, Amazon, and Home Depot this year. Instead I get things at Costco, Aldi, thrift /liquidation/ salvage/ surplus stores, finding ways to fix or repurpose things for other purposes, or smaller specialty stores. Or sometimes I go without and realize I can get by without the item. I think I’ve actually been saving money.

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u/kttuatw 13d ago

I avoid Amazon too. Haven’t bought anything from Amazon since the start of February. To be honest, I’ve found that I don’t really need anything from these places.

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u/Nikronim 12d ago

This is what I'm wondering as well. I have cut Amazon, and have never liked shopping at Walmart. I was a big Target shopper because I felt like I could get the same household essentials that Walmart offers, but with a better conscience. Now that Target has shown themselves to be no better, I'm not sure where to go for things like TP, dish soap, cat litter, laundry detergent, etc. The closest Costco is 2 hours away - we have Sam's instead, but that is owned by Walmart. So I feel a little lost, and a lot frustrated.

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u/SpaceBearSMO 13d ago

Just a budgy walmart anyway