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
30.4k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

1.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

827

u/justwalkingalonghere 13d ago

Might be worth calling them or emailing them to let them know it's on principle, too

There's an article going around about them writing it off as general consumer trends instead of about them specifically

696

u/avatarstate 13d ago

I have a friend in management there. He said they’re censoring surveys that mention DEI. Yet they didn’t do it when people cried about pride. They’re a shit company.

149

u/Next-Introduction-25 13d ago

Did your friend explain what that means exactly? Censoring as in they know some people are unhappy about DEI but they’re not sharing that info with anyone else? Or censoring like like preventing anyone’s comments about DEI from somehow reaching them so they can claim it isn’t an issue? Just wondering if you mean that bringing up DEI to them is a lost cause. 

157

u/momo6548 13d ago

Regular managers at the store who have no control over policy are the ones who answer surveys.

So, because there’s literally no response a store level manager could give to something like that, the system automatically removes any DEI related surveys from what the store team has to handle.

I’m one of the people who answers surveys at our store. People always seem surprised that the busywork of answering all the surveys falls to a regular manager and not someone in corporate.

35

u/connorroy_2024 12d ago

I had no idea people actually read those surveys. I thought it was just placating people who wanted to complain and it ends up in a long lost inbox somewhere.

26

u/darthmidoriya 12d ago

A lot of companies base your job performance on surveys now 😁 I rent cars and I got a talking to a couple weeks ago because not enough of my customers are shouting me out by name on their surveys

36

u/TeenyRex89 12d ago

And the majority of people won't either.

Bought a mouse pad at best buy, was asked to fill out the survey for cashier

Submit an IT ticket AT work, asked to fill out a survey for the 3rd party contractor

I barely have enough time for my own job much less others' 😭

11

u/connorroy_2024 12d ago

WHAT? That’s awful, I’m sorry. These companies shouldn’t be crowdsourcing their management and employee reviews… that’s the managers job :/ especially in retail/service

1

u/snarkyxanf 11d ago

not enough of my customers are shouting me out by name on their surveys

WTF. I'm bad with names in general, and have never marked down the name of an employee in my life. I could hand write in a perfumed letter of love for the company and my customer service experience and it still wouldn't include the desk rep's actual name

2

u/darthmidoriya 11d ago

I know, it’s insane. What’s even worse, is that only the fully satisfied customers count. So their survey has to be literally perfect AND they have to shout me out by name

5

u/TheDevil-YouKnow 12d ago

LMAO. Are you kidding?! I am not a Target employee, but this is universal. The rankings are absolutely fucked too.

A level 1 survey requires like 4 level 9s to negate the one level 1. Anything between 1 & 9 basically just.. doesn't matter. You can be given 50 8 ranked surveys, and it won't do anything for the 1 ranked survey.

On top of this, depending on the survey, you have to reach out to the customer to remediate the situation. Either gift card, talk to the employee (young cashier usually here) that RUINED THIS CUSTOMER'S LIFE by bagging cat treats next to avocados! Or having a conversation with another employee ABOUT THEIR LIFE! And the customer heard it! Outlandish, terrible behavior!

But corporate doesn't care about the surveys, the ones that matter like, 'The cart pusher set my car on fire' leads to an investigation at store level, if it has merit, that gets sent up to corporate for risk solutions to figure out how to best cover our asses in a lawsuit.

1

u/connorroy_2024 12d ago

I’m not kidding, but then again I’m not the type of person to leave a poor survey review for a retail worker making peanuts. Or any survey at all, really. Sorry you have to deal with that.

3

u/TheDevil-YouKnow 12d ago

Yeah I hate surveys. They're a useless metric for all intents and purposes. You end up playing this game where you harass customers to fill surveys out if they seem to have enjoyed their experience, and wink wink explain that 9s are appreciated. And why? So you can combat the curmudgeon that shops 3+hrs a day, every day, because the only semblance of routine left for them is that 3 hour shopping trip. But they're bitter, hollow people, so they love to shit on the Hispanic girl for being too flirtatious, or foam at the mouth at egg prices, so they show up everyday to leave a 1 ranked survey.

Ka is a wheel.

3

u/Next-Introduction-25 12d ago

That’s good to know. When I tried to reach out when they first repealed DEI, I was very frustrated that there didn’t seem to be any sort of companywide customer service system at all. No email, phone, or website that I could find. That feels really unusual for a corporation.

I assume they don’t want to include this information because then they can control the narrative to their shareholders and continue repeating lies like “no one cares about DEI; customer traffic is down because of the weather” (or whatever.)

2

u/momo6548 12d ago

There is, it’s the Target Guest Relations phone number. You can find it on google or any store guest services desk can provide it.

1

u/LivMealown 12d ago

Guest Relations doesn't answer their emails, though, it seems.

1

u/I_burn_noodles 12d ago

Yet they're used to assess that manager. My friend who managed a retail store used to collect people's receipts by the garbage cans and fill out the surveys himself. It's a stupid process.

117

u/Coolegespam 13d ago

You know, I willing to think that Target might have a chance to claw back some of my business. But after seeing a "20 year team member" say this bullshit:

"For those of you who believe our DEI initiatives were "cancalled", I would venture to opine they have simply been put back "in the closet" "*

Nah, forget about them. The rot is through that damn stores core. Half of what I bought there was useless shit anyway, and the other half, I can find elsewhere.

*I'm not going to link to the post, but I found it on another sub.

4

u/mrhandbook 12d ago

Why shop at target when Walmart is cheaper especially if they’re going to emulate Walmarts shittiness.

16

u/Coolegespam 12d ago

Why shop at either? There are alternatives, for most people anyway. If there aren't, maybe ask if you really need something or not.

If you really don't have any choices and need something, sure, I guess.

4

u/minja134 11d ago

There is a huge chunk of the country where Walmart is pretty much the only grocery store they have. It's unfortunate, but a very real truth. It's why they have such a large hold on the country, literally by our stomachs.

5

u/RoughhouseCamel 11d ago

As someone with options, I feel like it’s my responsibility to avoid Walmart. Some people don’t have that option because Walmart ran those options out of business.

3

u/minja134 11d ago

Oh for sure! But the original comment was saying question if you really need something if you can't get it elsewhere, which just bringing up sometimes even just groceries a lot of people have little other options. Luckily not the case for me, Costco has more than earned our shopping here!

1

u/indianapolis505 12d ago

wow had not seen that quote. where was it

1

u/Fluid-Signal-654 11d ago

If it was useless shit why did you buy it?

That's on you.

63

u/StepOIU 13d ago

Good. Then they'll continue to deny the problem and won't pretend to do some performative "jk it was a prank!" bullshit to get decent people back. I hope they hang on to their hatred all the way to the bottom.

1

u/Plank_With_A_Nail_In 13d ago

My uncle works at Nintendo on the next Sonic game.

1

u/Educational_Rope_246 12d ago

I have a few friends who work at Target corporate and they said that in the recent town halls, with all employees there to hear the state of the business, Target has not even mentioned the boycott. I think Target is hoping to just ride this out, but I don’t know if they realize they are easier to quit than amazon or even Walmart.

1

u/slcbtm 10d ago

Fare weather friends, once they show their true colors there is no going back short of public apologies and a change of leadership at the top.

I used to love 🎯, I won't forget. I still refrain from drinking Coors 🍺 because the family donated to Colorado prop 2 back in the 90's.

-4

u/BlakeMajik 13d ago

Why would your friend still work for them? I don't understand why anyone still works there, based on the way this sub paints the picture. Everyone should just quit and leave empty storefronts nationwide. That'd show 'em.

22

u/momo6548 13d ago

People need jobs in order to live. The vast majority of people are paycheck to paycheck and can’t just quit a job because they feel like it.

-5

u/BlakeMajik 12d ago

I was being facetious. The endgame for the boycotters seems to be to bankrupt Target so all these folks lose their jobs. Be careful what you wish for

16

u/manyhippofarts 13d ago

Yeah people are pretty stubborn about food. They want to continue consuming it, so they have to go do things they don't like to do.

8

u/LofiSynthetic 13d ago

Everyone should just quit and leave empty storefronts nationwide

This is wildly unrealistic. That’s hundreds of thousands of people across the US leaving their retail jobs that then having to find new jobs that meet their ethical standards (since in this scenario they left over Target’s ethics). Where are there hundreds of thousands of retail jobs open with companies that are ethical?

0

u/BlakeMajik 12d ago

Of course it is. But the boycotters here and elsewhere think they're going to put Target out of business without considering the ramifications.

17

u/boddidle 13d ago

Trust and believe, they know. That doesn't mean they'll say it outwardly

15

u/Dismal_Information83 12d ago

I can assure you they know. Also, two things are true. The economic situation is likely having a much bigger impact on than they boycott. As that rolls on the boycott will matter even more.

9

u/Jerking_From_Home 12d ago

That’s an incredibly lame way of saying “we lost money when we supported LGBTQ and are losing it again by swinging the pendulum the other way.” As if Target thought that it would help. Business 101 says if you lose 50% of your customers by one action, you’ll lose 100% of them by reversing your position. Especially true right now.

In the movie Full Metal Jacket, Private Joker realizes this problem and explains it quite simply: “Sir the private believes any answer he gives will be wrong and the senior drill instructor will beat him harder if he reverses himself, Sir.”

They should have just done the right thing and stuck to it. The MAGAs committing acts of violence could be minimized with extra security and true to form they’d soon tire of Target and move onto the next rage bait given to them by their cult leader.

44

u/momo6548 13d ago

Please don’t call or email your local store. They have absolutely nothing to do with the larger corporate policy, and you’re just making someone’s day worse that can’t do anything about the situation.

8

u/mrlbi18 12d ago

I mean, enoug people calling the local store and saying "you directly are losing money and here's why" might get them to do something about it. If you're corporate and every store is calling you complaining that your choices are damaging business then corporate might actually take it seriously.

9

u/momo6548 12d ago

It really won’t. Even a store manager at a specific location is so low on the totem pole for a large corporation that they have absolutely no say in corporate policy like this.

2

u/MachineShedFred 12d ago

Oh, they know. And if they haven't figured it out yet, the management will be informed at the next shareholder meeting.

2

u/VulfSki 12d ago

We called right away.

The person we spoke to thanked us for calling and said they wanted to write it all down.

1

u/notLennyD 12d ago

I mean, it very well may be general consumer trends. This is the start of the slow season for grocery retail.

1

u/XaphanSaysBurnIt 12d ago

10 toes down in the other direction (away from any target)

1

u/Professional_Shop945 10d ago

Because it is just consumer trends lol. Walmart experiencing the same thing. We’re dealing with the media no longer propping up the biden admin so now everyone realizes we’re in a recession

1

u/justwalkingalonghere 10d ago

That's a ridiculous take. It's painfully obvious that trump and musk are to blame for most of it. Their actions have caused both mass economic uncertainty and boycotts that you can see being organized en masse on sites like reddit

We're literally on a thread about how they've specifically only had this issue during trump's presidency

1

u/Professional_Shop945 10d ago

It’s the truth so it is what it is.

They’re really not, it’s just hilarious how you can alter spending based on how you report on economic health. Under biden I remember everyone telling me there was no inflation, no recession, and now prices have gone down and people are telling me there’s Inflation and we’re in a recession 😂 it’s hilarious.

1

u/justwalkingalonghere 9d ago

Who's telling you that? Inflation is measured very carefully and you can literally look at every year and every month's numbers.

Not everything is some wild conspiracy.

Bring me some evidence if you're so sure that the experts and the people with common sense are wrong

And even if biden caused this, trump sure as hell isn't going to fix it by deporting our immigrant laborers, starting fights with all of our allies, cutting social benefits, randomly generating tariffs on a whim, and giving literally more than a trillion dollars more in tax breaks to the obscenely wealthy

1

u/Sassy_Sweet321 6d ago

A lot of people are boycotting Walmart as well.