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
50.7k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

3.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

7

u/technicolortiddies 2d ago

Honestly? Yes. As someone who has been around a lot of different textiles & designers I can personally tell the difference between Old Navy vs. Target vs. H&M. Especially if you wear multiple pieces from the same store at once. Nothing against it- I have some great workout clothes from Targè myself!

1

u/plantsandramen 2d ago

I could see the difference between those three but I guess I just don't pay attention at all to what other people are wearing enough to tell just walking around.

2

u/technicolortiddies 2d ago

Well then that’s the answer to “How would you notice anyone is wearing Target brand clothes…?” By paying attention 😂

1

u/roman_maverik 2d ago

Eyeballing Old Navy vs Target vs H&M is like doing a blind taste test with different vodka brands.

You can say you can do it, but when you’re tipsy at a bar on Friday afternoon bragging about it, my bet is on the opposite end of that wager.

7

u/On_my_last_spoon 2d ago

No, it’s not. Each of these stores have a distinct style. That’s how they attract buyers! Old Navy is especially distinct.

Target used to be but they are buying more and more from Chinese drop shippers these days. They used to carry their own brands and now they sell other brands. It’s been an interesting transition.

2

u/technicolortiddies 2d ago

I call Old Navy Brooks Brothers on a budget. I can just feel the pique polos.

1

u/On_my_last_spoon 1d ago

Oh yes totally!

As someone who works with clothing, I find people underestimate how culturally ingrained clothing and clothing choice is. The whole point of choosing clothing is to have an outward marker or who you are, what you do, your level of wealth, etc. It’s why luxury brands have not only a distinct style but obvious branding. A Chanel bag is nothing without the Chanel logo.

Budget brands mimic this. Target made its mark as a big box store where it was acceptable to say you got clothing from. The shame of saying you had Walmart clothing vs bragging about Target. And in many cases the quality was better than fast fashion. I have Target cardigans in my closet that I’ve had for many years. They also partnered with some luxury brands to create their budget versions. Remember the Liberty of London line?

But there has absolutely a shift to poorer quality of late. I shop for my job, and we ordered a bunch from Target recently that was just drop shipper crap. (I try to make different choices, but unfortunately I don’t make the shopping choices, I just have the credit card.)

So, I’d say that Target is suffering for many reasons here, but definitely if they just have the same cheep crap you can get anywhere AND you’re showing you don’t care about being good to people, then yeah, I don’t see the point of shopping there anymore.