Apparently, consumer boycotts do have a significant impact, and no corporation is more aware of that right now than Target.
Last week, we reported that due to the efforts of Black activist groups and clergy members like Atlanta-based pastor Dr. Jamal Bryant, boycotts against Target — which publicly announced the roll-back of its diversity initiatives back in January, appearing to follow the marching orders of President Donald Trump — had steadily increased while the retail giant’s stock value and revenue had continued to plummet. Well, according to Fortune, the boycotts and general anti-DEI backlash have caused low foot traffic in Target’s stores for the eighth consecutive week.
Basically, February was bad for Target, and March was abysmal.
From Fortune:
For the week that began March 17, foot traffic fell 5.7% YoY for Target, according to data from Placer.ai. That’s compared to the 7.1% it fell last week, and an average weekly decline over the last eight weeks of 6.2%.
In a March 4 earnings call, when it reported a 3.1% Q4 loss and a non-specified sales decline in February, Target executives were bullish about its Easter assortment boosting business. But if it has so far, it’s not reflected in the foot-traffic data. What may have taken the spring out of the Easter Bunny’s hop for Target is a 40-plus day boycott coinciding with Lent (so ending on Easter) spearheaded by Black clergy for which more than 150,000 have signed up, exceeding organizers’ stated goal of 100,000.
Meanwhile, do you know which company is not having these “I let my bigoted-a** president block my bag” problems? Costco.
Unlike Target, which dredged up its own PR nightmare by making its tone-deaf anti-DEI announcement, Costco did the opposite thing and announced publicly that it would not be bowing down to the white-and-eternally-fragile whims of MAGA racists who are propagandizing what DEI is every opportunity they get. (OK, Costco didn’t say all that, but the company did stand by its DEI practices, effectively spitting in the rust-orange face of white nationalism.) So, while Target is struggling to get its footing back, Costco is line-dancing all the way to the bank.
More from Fortune:
At Costco, which unlike Target resisted demands from the Trump administration for private companies to dump their DEI programs, foot traffic has continued to grow. For the same week beginning March 17, traffic rose 5.2% YoY, and marked its 13th straight week of gains over last year.
You see, prominent leaders like Bryant and Al Sharpton and activist organizations like the NAACP and National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) weren’t just organizing boycotts against Target; they were organizing “buy-cotts” and “buy-ins” for companies like Costco that publicly refused to hop aboard the DEI hate train. Hopefully, these trends continue and capitalist companies like Target begin to understand that while white supremacy is enduring, it’s not popular like it used to be, and it certainly isn’t something a brand wants to attach itself to.
In other words, keep boycotting, y’all. It’s making a difference.
SEE ALSO:
Target Boycotts Increase As Company Suffers Backlash Over Anti-DEI Policy
Trump’s Anti-DEI Order Ends Clause That Explicitly Prohibits Racially ‘Segregated Facilities’
Target’s Foot Traffic Down 8 Weeks In A Row, Maybe The Boycotts Are Actually Working
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