r/Anticonsumption • u/Healthy_Block3036 • 2d ago

Corporations Target struggles after end of DEI program and boycott, with foot traffic down 8 weeks in a row.

https://fortune.com/2025/04/01/target-dei-demise-boycott-foot-traffic-down-eighth-consecutive-week/?itm_source=parsely-api
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u/Global_Permission749 2d ago

The chain of stores that's losing their butts to both boycotts and tariffs?

Don't expect boycotts to last very long. Americans have short memories with flexible principles.

IMO the biggest problem with Target is it's basically little more than a giant Dollar General. I'm not a Walmart or Target kind of shopper, but every single time I go into a Target, it looks like the Great Depression incarnate. Entire sections out of stock, unwanted scraps on the bottom shelf or in the aisle. Hooks half attached to the display. Missing price tags everywhere.

And it's not just one Target. It's literally several different Targets that I've been into over the last couple of years.

I worked in retail for years. It's one thing if someone is doing a planogram refresh, but this is a constant thing with Target.

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u/Ouaouaron 2d ago

Seems like a regional thing. Targets around me are nothing like that, though it does seem like every week they've locked another aisle behind behind plexiglass for theft prevention. Though I am in Target's home state, so the stores near me might be less representative of the national trend than the ones near you.

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u/One-Temporary8223 2d ago

do you live in a high crime area or what?

almost nothing is locked behind plexi at mine

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u/iamrlywhite 2d ago

I saw dish soap behind plexiglass in Bellevue of all places which isn’t even usual Seattle level of shoplifting crime

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u/Groovychick1978 2d ago

I can't get socks or underwear at the one I went to in Denver.  Not a bad area or anything. 

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u/rainzer 2d ago

do you live in a high crime area or what?

seems dependent on city or region. I'm in a neighborhood with one of the lowest rates of crime in my city and some of the retail stores (esp pharmacies) that exist here will still put stuff behind plexiglass even with retail theft being down for 3 years in a row (which wasn't high to begin with, our police precinct reports 30 cases all of last year)

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u/cslack30 2d ago

Really the only reason to shop at Target is so you don’t have to shop with the peasants at Walmart

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u/ManzanitaSuperHero 2d ago

Nope. They grossly miscalculated their best customers. I was one. I specifically chose Target bc it was progressive. I’m gay and knew the company had good protections for LGBT employees. That’s important to me for obvious reasons. They platform artists from different backgrounds and celebrated diversity. I don’t go to Wal-Mart bc they don’t do any of these things. I know I’m not alone in this.

They misread the boycotts by the MAGA crowd. Those aren’t their main customers anyway. So losing them wasn’t really losing much. But this nonsense? They’re pulling one of the things their core demographic appreciated about them. Now they’ve pissed off both the left & right.

And there’s not much you NEED at Target that you can’t get elsewhere. Once people get out of the habit of shopping somewhere, they kind of forget.

They’ve made a big mistake here.

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u/Nilfsama 2d ago

Lmao “don’t expect boycotts to last very long.” Buddy it’s been 8 weeks, what is your definition of long?

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u/Global_Permission749 2d ago

LOL 8 weeks is NOTHING. Let's see a real boycott last until the midterms and let's see that influence Target to help democrats get elected and unseat republicans.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago edited 2d ago

[deleted]

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u/Global_Permission749 2d ago

Uhh, the premise was "is 8 weeks a long time for a boycott"

No, 8 weeks is not a long time for a boycott. 8 weeks is not a long time for anything related to consumer habits.

But yeah, call me dumb even though you think there will be any lasting financial damage to Target over its change to DEI policies.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/Global_Permission749 1d ago

No, nobody was making any new conversations.

There was a claim that 8 weeks is a long time. It's not.

There was the implication that Target is totally gonna be fucked by their decision to end DEI. They won't.

Consumers will slip on their "principles" when they are inconvenienced and Target's traffic and revenue will be right back to where it was.

Let's talk about boycotts when this has gone on for years and it's clear that people have in fact abandoned Target.

It's super "I live on Reddit" behaviour where you can never admit any of the things you said might be slightly off

Says the guy who keeps tripling down on "8 weeks is a long time" lol...

For reference, Occupy Wallstreet lasted about 8 weeks as well. What changed? Not a single fucking thing ;)

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u/CattleIndependent805 2d ago

Here the thing, the boycotts are happening because they pissed off their core demographic and destroyed their trust by removing the one thing that was why customers were willing to put up with their higher prices… Their DEI policies and support for human rights were their only competitive advantage left, considering the fact that their prices continue to go up while their quality continues to go down.

Now their customers see them as no better than Wal-Mart, so if they can't support another company that still upholds their values, they are just going to go to Walmart instead and take advantage of the lower prices.

This isn't a temporary problem, people are changing their shopping habits over this, and it's going to take a LONG time for them to rebuild that brand loyalty…

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u/eryoshi 1d ago

Your comment sounds like you copied /u/ManzanitaSuperHero ‘s comment and just put it through an AI program to re-word. /r/SameCommentButAI 😂

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u/CattleIndependent805 20h ago

I hadn't seen their comment, but it's a pretty well known thing, I'm not surprised other people are saying similar things…

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u/---Cloudberry--- 2d ago

Now they’ve shown their nasty side they’re probably never getting that trust back.

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u/Comfortable_Angle671 1d ago

And who do you believe make up their core customer base?

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u/Imaginary_Fox_3688 2d ago

target is way more expensive than the walmarts and dollar generals.

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u/ToothZealousideal297 2d ago

The overall price difference between Target and Walmart is safely under 10%.

One of many articles about this, which all come to the same conclusion: https://easyfamilybudgeting.com/target-vs-walmart/

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u/CattleIndependent805 2d ago

10% is a lot to many people in this economy, but more importantly, there's no reason to pay 1% extra to go to Target when their corporate ethics were why you were willing to pay extra and they are now the same as Walmart's ethics…

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u/ToothZealousideal297 2d ago

Oh that’s true; I didn’t realize how my comment came off. I just actively avoided going to Target because they’re bastards an hour ago (had to wait on tires and Target would’ve normally been the clear choice to kill time, but not anymore! So I wandered the rest of the strip mall instead). I just saw someone saying the price was way higher there and corrected them on instinct; probably would’ve been better off just leaving that one.

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u/Cachemorecrystal 2d ago

Sounds more like Rite-Aids or Wal-Marts near me. My Target has always been well stocked.

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u/Potential_Today_2819 2d ago

My targets are nothing like this?