Organizers of the Target Boycott, which began in January, point to tactics as a hopeful indication that corporate behavior towards retailers can still have a profound impact.
When Target announced that the current CEO would resign in February 2026 and that insiders were at the helm, those organizers saw it as a move in the right direction and emphasized more than ever that the boycott would continue unless it was previously published.
“It’s now nearly 200 days and what all statistics and economics have shown since the boycott was announced on Monday — since then, the target staircase of almost 2,000 stores has been declining sharply and has continued to decline.”
Minnesota boycott organizers were some of the first to zinc plating. When Target chose to follow other companies like Amazon and Walmart in January And take a look at diversity, equity and comprehensive initiatives. Famous civil rights activists like Pastor Al Sharpton and Pastor Jamal Bryant They also made similar calls about what they deemed a betrayal of the previous Day promises.
Social justice advocates say this shows that boycotts are an important tactic that doesn’t take for granted.
Retail analysts say it’s difficult to measure the exact impact of boycotts as Target has faced a recession over the past few years and leadership changes are on the cards. Still, groups like the Washington-based DC Boycott Target Coalition claim that pedestrians are “not a small portion” of the boycott, where pedestrians straddle the coast.
“A change in leadership means nothing without a change in culture,” the group said in a statement, vowing to continue to pressure targets until they see businesses as being more important than succumbing to a regime full of racism, failure and hatred.
Opponents began a national boycott in February of Black History Month. Their strategy left some Black brands with products on target shelf Conflict or scramble.
By April, Sharpton actually met with the target CEO Brian CornellHe was at the helm for 11 years. But there was nothing concrete.
Target CEO changes have been planned for a long time
Cornell’s departure from the role was under work for several years.
In September 2022, the board expanded Cornell’s contract For another three years, he removed a policy requiring the CEO to retire at the age of 65. When Target’s Chief Operating Officer Michael Fidelke takes over, Cornell becomes executive chairman of the board.
In a call with the reporter, Fidelke believes there is a sense of laziness in sales in many issues, especially in household items, focusing on too much on basics and trendy items.
Data shows that target sales have already been sliding
Stacey Widlitz, president of SW Retail Advisors’ investment research firm, said he believes Target’s sales Malaise is not due to a pullback from the DEI initiative, but to its operational issues (sweet stores and inadequate stock shelves).
Unraveling them, she said, had no effect on the target “exponentially compared to someone else.” “Consumers have very short memory. If you have a good, compelling product at a valuable price, they will forgive you.”
The number of Americans who regularly shop at Target has fallen 19% since 2021, according to behavioral attitude data provider GWI. The number of Americans who say they don’t shop at Target has increased by 17%.
The same analysis also looked at trends along the party line. Since last year, the number of regular target shoppers identified as Democrats has fallen by 13%. Conversely, the number of Republican clients has increased by 13%. It is not clear whether it comes from a target’s $1 million donation to Trump’s inauguration or several other factors.
Organizers are sticking to boycotting strategies
The strategy of boycotting racial justice goes back to 160 years from the “Buy Black” campaign in the reconstruction era to highlight the economic impact of Black America on the civil rights movement’s Montgomery Bus boycott. A more modern campaign over the exhibition of Confederate combat flags, such as the 15-year economic boycott of the NAACP in South Carolina, is widely regarded as a symbol of hatred and slavery. Civil rights groups ended their boycott in 2015 after the state removed the flag from the state’s Capitol following the massacre of nine black parishioners at Charleston’s historic African Methodist Anglican Church.
Some black creators on social media platforms were pleased to praise the boycott on the platform where CEOs leave. Others warned that Cornell was essentially promoted, but a boycott was still needed.
The purchasing power of Black Americans has risen over the past 25 years, and is currently an estimated $2.1 trillion per year. Nielsen Research.
Part of the reason organizers say they’ve turned zero to target is because the company had it badly. Promoted his commitment to Day in 2020 After protests erupted across the country over the murder of George Floyd. That year, Target announced it would increase its black staff representatives by 20% over three years and invest $10 million in social justice organizations. In 2021, the company promised to devote more than $2 billion to black-owned businesses by the end of 2025.
However, in January, Target said it would close the employment and progress goals it set.
For boycott organizers, reversal of these decisions is the only way to correct the situation.
“We are accused of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP, Nekima Levi Armstrong, civil rights lawyer and former president. “We ask that we participate, engage and hold our target accountable for our actions.”
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This story was changed to help target shoppers modify GWI data sources rather than consumer edge.
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New York AP retail writer Anne D’Hyneanzio contributed to this report.
