Foot traffic at retailer Target continued to decline through late summer, reports Fortune, dashing hopes of a back-to-school season turnaround. The new CEO, a longtime company insider, has his work cut out for him.
In August, foot traffic fell 3.3% year over year for Target, with the week beginning August 25 (which included the long Labor Day weekend) dropping 4.6%, marking its worst weekly decline in seven weeks, according to data from Placer.ai. At Target rival Costco, foot traffic was up 5.2% YoY for August, while Walmart was slightly down 0.6%.
Target downplayed the impact of black and LGBT customers staying away since it ended diversity initiatives to please Donald Trump. But top teachers' unions recently joined the boycott, citing the same reason.
On Labor Day, AFT President Randi Weingarten joined Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates and Dr. Jamal Bryant, senior pastor at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Ga., to announce dual union resolutions in support of the nationwide boycott against Target, after the retailer rescinded its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts to comply with the Trump administration's offensive attacks on DEI and communities of color.
Announced during Chicago's "Workers Over Billionaires" Labor Day march and rally, the union support for the boycott comes as public school educators, students and their families return to the classroom and as school supply purchases are front-of-mind for many. The AFT's executive committee passed its resolution late last week, making it clear that its 1.8 million members—public school educators, school-related personnel, higher education faculty and staff, healthcare workers and government employees—should spend their money elsewhere until Target reverses its stance.
I can't help but notice how crummy Target's clothes are, these days. Or that I still pop in for deals. "Cheapest place to buy bulk soda" was never Target's brand: a lot has gone wrong there.
