Target has been embroiled in controversy with conservative consumers this year as the department store continues to peddle a woke agenda. Simultaneously, recent reports illustrate significant financial losses the company is enduring.
According to Target’s third-quarter earnings report, sales dropped approximately 5%. This is hardly an improvement from the 5.4% decline experienced during this year’s second quarter. While it is true that inflation has been weighing down consumer budgets, many have also credited the intense backlash against Target for its pride-themed merchandise as a driver for the declining sales.
Target found itself in hot water after partnering with an openly satanic designer and rolled out a pride lineup accused of primarily targeting children. Furthermore, the department store angered shoppers for selling a “tuck-friendly” female swimsuit.
It doesn’t appear the company has learned its lesson from the controversy. Many feel that it would be a logical business decision to backtrack from the agenda that has led to controversy and boycotts, but instead, Target has hired a “Senior LGBTQIA+ Segmentation Strategist and Pride Lead.”
The woke department store has created even more backlash from fed-up conservative shoppers over LGBT Christmas merchandise, such as a nutcracker holding some variation of a pride flag stating, “Show your love and support for the LGBTQIA+ community.” Target has been immediately met with an uproar on social media, with one user saying, “You would think they would have learned from the last time. When will companies finally start to realize it? Go woke … go broke!”
“Target selling sexually themed Christmas ornaments is more evidence that we live in a post-Christian society. The virgin birth of the Savior of the world in a stable in Bethlehem is what we celebrate. The goodness, truth, and beauty of that reality are not improved or enhanced by woke merchandising campaigns,” said Meg Kilgannon, senior fellow for Education Studies at the Family Research Council.
Target CEO Brian Cornell was recently blasted after dubiously claiming the backlash over the company’s woke merchandise was more dangerous than the George Floyd riots in 2020, where stores were looted.
“Well, why don’t we step back? So this is my 10th holiday season at Target you and I have been talking almost every quarter during those 10 years. And, you know, I’ve seen natural disasters. We’ve seen the impact of COVID leading into the pandemic, some of the violence that took place after George Floyd’s murder, but I would tell you that the, what I saw back in May, is the first time since I’ve been in this job, where I had Store team members saying it’s not safe to come to work,” Cornell said.
“What was happening to them. Very aggressive behavior, store level, lots of threats, product being destroyed, point of sale being disrupted. And when we started to hear that, we knew we had to take action. We had to prioritize the safety of our teams. And I knew personally, this was not going to be well received. But we had to prioritize the safety of the team. And we made some changes the location of the product, we curated the assortment, we addressed some of the products that were getting the most attention,” the CEO continued.
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