Target Stores Continue to Suffer Amid Boycott

You may recall in April of last year Target announced on its website that customers and employees at its stores would be able to use the changing areas and restrooms of their choice rather than their biological sex.

Many people expressed public safety concerns about Target’s decision to let men enter women’s restrooms and changing areas.

As a result, more than a million people signed agreements to boycott Target.

Target has suffered financially since, with its stock prices falling nearly 23% — from $82.76 per share to $64 per share — since April of last year.

Some argue that stores like Target are simply having a tough time in this economy. However, Target’s competitor Walmart has seen its stock value rise from $69 per share to nearly $98 since April of 2016.

Last month Target announced it will close 12 of its larger stores next year. According to CNBC, the stores are located in Minnesota, Kansas, Michigan, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida, Illinois, and Texas.

Even Target’s management has acknowledged that letting men enter the women’s restrooms and changing areas at its stores has been bad for business. Last spring Target’s CEO admitted, “Target didn’t adequately assess the risk [about publicizing the policy], and the ensuing backlash was self-inflicted.” However, he stopped short of saying the policy itself was bad.

Target has not changed its policy as of today, and over 1.5 million Americans are still boycotting the retail chain as a result, but at least the company admits the boycott is affecting its bottom line.

You can sign the pledge to boycott Target here.

Target CEO Admits Bathroom Policy Announcement Was a Mistake

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Target’s CEO does not seem to regret the company’s decision to invite men into the women’s changing areas and restrooms at its stores–but he does regret the fact the policy was so widely publicized.

You may recall last year Target announced on its website that customers and employees at its stores would be able to use the changing areas and restrooms of their choice rather than their biological sex.

Many people expressed public safety concerns about this decision, and more than a million people signed agreements to boycott Target.

Target has suffered financially since. Today, the American Family Association writes, “Target’s stock has lost 35% of its value, and shuttered plans for major expansion projects.”

Now Target’s CEO Brian Cornell admits, “Target didn’t adequately assess the risk [about publicizing the policy], and the ensuing backlash was self-inflicted.”

Of course, Target has not changed its policy as of today, and nearly 1.5 million Americans are still boycotting the retail chain as a result.

You can sign the pledge to boycott Target here.

You can read the Wall Street Journal article here (subscription required).

You can read more about this story here.

 

Biological Male Arrested for Photographing Woman in Target Dressing Room

Target_Albemarle_Rd_Charlotte,_NC_(7579989322)News outlets in Idaho report a man who claims to be a transgender woman was arrested this week for allegedly photographing a woman in the dressing room at a Target store.

The Post Register writes,

Shauna Patricia Smith, 43, is in custody in the Bonneville County Jail under the name Sean Smith, according to the jail’s active inmate roster. A Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office news release said the suspect also is known as Sean P. Smith.

Sheriff’s deputies responded Monday to the store after a woman reported that someone was taking pictures of her while she was inside a dressing room trying on clothes, the release said. The victim noticed the subject reaching over the wall with a cellphone taking pictures. The victim confronted the suspect who then fled the store on foot, the release said.

Last April we expressed concerns Target’s new policy for restrooms and fitting rooms puts customers–particularly women and children–at risk by allowing people to use any facility or changing room they wish, regardless of biological sex.

Photo Credit: By Mike Kalasnik from Fort Mill, USA [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons