Target always facing the boycott of pro-dei activists: “ change in leadership means nothing without a culture change ” ‘

When Target announced that his current manager would resign in February 2026 and that an initiate took over, these organizers considered him a movement in the right direction and stress that the boycotts will continue as long as the previous promises made to the public that are not held.

“This is now almost 200 days and what all statistics and the economy have shown that since this boycott was announced this Monday – every week since then – Target pedestrian traffic in nearly 2,000 stores has decreased sharply and continues to decrease,” said organizer Jaylani Hussein, at a press conference last week last week.

The Minnesota boycott organizers were among the first to galvanize when Target chose in January to follow other companies such as Amazon and Walmart and renounces initiatives of diversity, equity and inclusion. High -level activists of civil rights such as Reverend Al Sharpton and Reverend Jamal Bryant also made calls similar to what they have deemed a betrayal of the previous promises of Dei.

The defenders of social justice say that it shows that boycott is a key tactic not to hold for granted.

Detail analysts say it is difficult to assess the exact impact of the boycott, because Target has faced a collapse in recent years and a change in leadership has been in the cards. However, groups like DC Boycott Target Coalition, based in Washington, insist on pedestrian traffic which is “due in large part” to a boycott which extends over an ocean by side.

“The change of leadership does not mean anything without a change of culture,” said the group in a statement, promising to continue pressing Target until the company considers its objectives of diversity as “more important than to bow before an administration filled with racism, failure and hatred”.

The opponents started the national boycott in February, during the month of the history of blacks. Their strategy has left certain brands belonging to blacks with goods on the target shelves in conflict or by blurring.

In April, Sharpton in fact met the CEO of Target, Brian Cornell, who had been at the helm for 11 years. But, nothing concrete came.

The change of target CEO has been planned for a long time

Cornell’s departure from this role had been in preparation for several years.

In September 2022, the Board of Directors extended the Cornell contract for three more years and eliminated a policy requiring that its leaders of the Management take up their retirement at 65. When Target’s chief of the Target operation, Michael Fiddelke, takes over, Cornell will move to the executive presidency of the board of directors.

In a call with journalists, Fiddelke assigned sales discomfort to many problems such as focusing too much on the basics and not enough fashionable items, especially in home products.

The data show that target sales were already sliding

Stacey Widlitz, president of the investment research company, SW Retail Advisors, said that she was thinking that the discomfort of Target sales had more to do with her operational problems – disorderly stores and poorly supplied shelves – and not of her decline in Dei initiatives.

Tanging them did not affect the target “exponentially compared to someone else,” she said. “The consumer has a very short memory. If you have an excellent convincing product at value prices, it will forgive you. ”

The number of Americans who say that they regularly buy at Target has dropped by 19% since 2021, according to GWI, a supplier of behavioral attitudinal data. The number of Americans who say they don’t buy at Target increased by 17%.

The same analysis also examined trends along festive lines. Since last year, the number of regular target buyers who identify as a democrat has decreased by 13%. Conversely, the number of republican customers increased by 13%. It is not clear if this is due to the donation of $ 1 million from Target to the inauguration of Trump or to certain other factors.

The organizers try to boycott the strategy

The Boycotts strategy of racial justice dates back over 160 years, the reconstruction of the “Buy Black” campaigns highlighting the American economic influence of blacks to the boycott of Montgomery buses of the Civil Rights Movement. There have been more modern campaigns like the 15 -year -old economic boycott of the NAACP of the Southern Carolina State on her exhibition of the Confederate Battle Flag largely considered as a symbol of hatred and slavery. The civil rights group ended its boycott in 2015 after the state withdrew the flag from its fields of state, following the massacre of nine black parishioners in an episcopal church in the historic African African Methodist in Charleston.

Some black creators on the Tiktok social media platform have delighted the CEO platform leaving and credited the boycotts. Others warned that Cornell was essentially promoted but that boycott is still necessary.

The purchasing power of black Americans has climbed over the past 25 years and is now estimated at 2.1 billions of dollars per year, according to Nielsen Research.

Part of the reason why the organizers say they are zero on the target is that the company had greatly praised a commitment to Dei in 2020 after demonstrations broke out through the country for the murder of George Floyd. That year, Target announced that it would increase the representation of black staff by 20% over three years and invest $ 10 million in social justice organizations. In 2021, the company undertook to devote more than $ 2 billion to companies belonging to blacks before the end of 2025.

In January, however, Target said that he would conclude the hiring and advancement objectives he had set.

For boycott organizers, a reversal of these decisions is the only way to correct the situation.

“We expect Target to be right about the promises that it made. Otherwise, there is no time for discussion concerning the cancellation of this boycott,” said Nekima Levy Armstrong, lawyer for civil rights and former president of the Minneapolis section of NAACP. “We ask people to join us, get involved and hold the target responsible for their actions.

___

The retail writer of AP Anne of Nonocenzio in New York contributed to this report.