Target reveals astonishing scale of sales decline after controversial DEI stance

Daily Mail UK ^ | May 21, 2025 | Alice Wright

[Morgana]

Sales at Target fell more than expected in the first quarter as the retailer faced boycotts for ditching its DEI efforts and felt the impact of President Trump's tariffs.

Target cut its forecast for the rest of the year warning that sales would slip further as its customers pulled back on spending amid an uncertain economic environment.

Earlier this year the company conceded to the Trump administrations attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives by scaling back its own efforts.

However, the retreat created a fierce customer backlash leading to store boycotts that further damaged sales.

Sales for the company fell 2.8 percent to $23.85 billion in the quarter, Target announced on its first quarter earnings call on Wednesday.

The results were lower than the $24.23 billion Wall Street expected, according to FactSet.

'I want to be clear, we're not satisfied with these results, so we're moving with urgency to navigate through this period of volatility,' Target CEO Brian Cornell said.

'We've got to drive traffic back into our stores or visits to our site.'

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TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: affirmativeaction; dei; die; diversity; esg; homosexualagenda; homosexualpolicy; retail; sales; target; woke

[Morgana]

from Imgflip Meme Generator

[butlerweave]

Right On Target , Bullseye ,LOL

[Skwor]

From the posted parts of the article it seems the LSM is trying to make it sound like cutting DEI is hurting them. The fact is being exposed for the DEI mess they pushed was hurting them

Just more lies from the media

[proxy_user]

It’s due to DEI, it’s due to tariffs - no, it’s due to Walmart having better prices!

[ConservativeMind]

I don’t see a 3% reduction as terrible, at all.

That is actually hard to distinguish from general economic issues, unfortunately.

That means they won’t learn.

[9YearLurker]

And now they’re trying to get right with the world by making a show of increasing prices due to the tariffs.

[Ciaphas Cain]

There is a Target store that opened up a few miles away several months ago. I’ve yet to see its parking lot anywhere close to full. They’re losing money on the place, no doubt. And this area is one of the fastest growing in the state of South Carolina.

[Be Free]

Here are maybe the top-4 reasons why retailers might see a sales decline (no particular order):

1. The just-started tariffs increases (would not have really hit yet)
2. Backlash from STOPPING their DEI policies. (yeah, you alienated your client-base when you were found out - did you just expect them to flock back to you?)
3. Population reduction due to mass deportations, leading to fewer retail shoppers. (I’ll take that trade!)
4. Incompetence of corporate management.

Which do you suppose corporate executives WON’T focus on? (Hint: it would require a mirror.)

[bk1000]

Yeah, normal people left them as a result of their DEI idiocy, and they haven’t returned. Now they will lose the sickos as well. They should embrace the ouster of DEI, publicly apologize, and ask normal people to come back to their new and improved store. Announce they understand the importance of private places for women, and men may not enter those places regardless of how they “identify”.
Perhaps then normalcy will return to Target.

[MtnClimber]

Get WOKE go _____.

[bigdaddy45]

I’m not a huge boycott fan, but about 10 years ago Target announced that anyone could use any bathroom they wanted to use (basically). That was it for me. I think i’ve been in a Target twice since then. So they lost a lot of conservatives years ago.

Now, they announce that they’ve seen the light, and that they’re getting rid of the DEI nonsense. Well that ticks off the progressives... they aren’t coming back. But does that bring me, as a conservative, back to Target? Hell no. They decided to go the identity politics route a long time ago, and i have no use for them.

So, by going woke, and then (kind of) backing off of it, they’ve managed to offend both sides of spectrum.

How about you just sell stuff, and keep the virtue signalling out of it? Business 101.

[AAABEST]

Target once was a suburban MILF haven, a prime demo, until the new-age, woke dribblers in charge ran them off.

Public faggotry and DEI before profits... how’s that working out?

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Last time I was in TARGET I found a set of old 1950s Randolph Scott movies safe for the whole family!
They REFUSED to sell them to me till I proved I was over 18 as they are considered “UNRATED,” same as modern PORN.
I was 68 years old at the time.

[Allegra]

Yep. They were already hurting for letting men in women’s restrooms and pushing gay merchandise for children. This was well before Trump was elected.

[webheart]

What about rampant shoplifting? I don’t go to Target much but I have shopped there and have visited several locations. Once I was looking for batman t shirts and I watched a black kid with a stuffed full backpack on walking straight out the front door. I was in Vancouver WA and watched someone push a full shopping cart out right past the register and straight to a pickup truck. I saw a guy walk out with two of those hand baskets full of food and when I went outside the store there was a group of homeless people eating said food right in front of the store. I have seen other instances of backpacks and shopping carts at different target locations. It is my racism that makes me notice that the perpetrators are mostly black. They make no effort to stop the thieves. At one time the do-gooders who live in the nice neighborhood were trying to get some law enforcement involved but the city council was mad at them for bringing attention to homeless thieves.

[T.B. Yoits]

Last time I was in TARGET I found a set of old 1950s Randolph Scott movies safe for the whole family! They REFUSED to sell them to me till I proved I was over 18 as they are considered “UNRATED,” same as modern PORN. I was 68 years old at the time.

The employee may have wanted those videos for himself.

[Myrddin]

The local indoor mall in Pocatello/Chubbuck will be demolished starting May 31st. JC Penney is closing and going away. All of the local merchants are going out of business for lack of resources to rebuild elsewhere. The site will be rebuilt as an outdoor strip mall as a preferred format by the California based new owner Simon Properties. A Target store will occupy a significant part of the freshly cleared site. Immediately across the street from the mall in a long establish Super Walmart. It remains to be seen how the locals will react to an outdoor strip mall with weather extremes in both Winter and Summer.

[xp38]

They lost a couple of billion expanding and then retreating from Canada in short order too.

[Magnum44]

Yep, stated cause and effect dont necessarily correlate.

[Myrddin]

Last time I was in TARGET I found a set of old 1950s Randolph Scott movies safe for the whole family! They REFUSED to sell them to me till I proved I was over 18 as they are considered “UNRATED,” same as modern PORN. I was 68 years old at the time.

I had a similar idiot response at a local Wingers restaurant. I wanted a glass of beer with my dinner. I'm 68. They insisted that they needed to scan my driver's license to sell me a glass of beer. I ordered water instead and haven't returned to eat there since.