- Target shares fell 3.66 percent Tuesday, resulting in the retail store losing $2.4billion in market capitalization
- The losses put the stock on its longest losing streak since November 2018, with prices at a 52-week low of $133.88
- Target’s market capitalization fell by over $12billion in the last 14 days
By MELISSA KOENIG FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 01:32 EDT, 31 May 2023 | UPDATED: 09:32 EDT, 31 May 2023
Target’s share prices continued to plummet for an eighth-straight day Tuesday as the retailer faces its biggest losing streak in five years.
Shares fell 3.66 percent on Tuesday, resulting in the once-popular retail store losing a whopping $2.4billion in market capitalization amid widespread backlash to its Pride display, which included ‘tuck-friendly’ women’s swimwear.
Tuesday’s losses put the stock on its longest losing streak since November 2018, according to FOX Business, with shares at a 52-week low of $133.88 — down nearly 15 percent over the month.
Target’s market capitalization is down by more than $12billion in the last 14 days as its value plunged to $61.85billion when trading closed Tuesday.
Conservatives and moderates alike have been boycotting Target since it was revealed last week that the retailer was selling clothes with LGBTQ-friendly slogans like ‘Trans People Will Always Exist!’, ‘gay’, and ‘Live Laugh Lesbian.’
Some have accused the chain of grooming children, pointing to a tweet that purports to show a ‘tuck-friendly’ girls’ bathing suit with ‘extra crotch coverage.’
Several stores in the rural South have now reportedly hidden and toned down the Pride sections, and staff members at Target headquarters are said to have held an ’emergency’ meeting to avoid what one insider called a ‘Bud Light situation.’
In a statement last week, Target – led by CEO Brian Cornell – announced the company had pulled some items it had received complains about, specifying that they have ‘been at the center of the most confrontational behavior.‘
‘Since introducing this year’s collection, we’ve experienced threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and wellbeing while at work,’ the firm said in its statement.
‘Given these volatile circumstances, we are making adjustments to our plans, including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior.’
The company did not specify which items had been taken off shelves. But as of Sunday, many of the swimsuits, onesies and t-shirts that sparked outrage remain available online.
Target faces boycott for selling trans clothes for children
Target has supported Pride – celebrated throughout the month of June – every year since 2013, with this year’s collection only the latest to prove polarizing.
In 2014, Target publicly endorsed marriage equality, and the following year announced it was ending their policy of dividing certain products, like toys, by gender.
Target also introduced a gender-neutral line for children, and in April 2016 – amid a nationwide discussion about bathroom access – announced that transgender people were free to use whichever bathroom they chose.
A backlash ensued, and Target in August 2016 spent $20 million to add a private bathroom to each of its stores.
Both flubs took place under Cornell’s watch.
Despite that, last week, the CEO told Fortune’s Leadership Next podcast he believed the campaign would pay off in the long run.
‘I think those are just good business decisions, and it’s the right thing for society, and it’s the great thing for our brand,’ Cornell said.
‘The things we’ve done from a DE&I (diversity, equity, and inclusion) standpoint, it’s adding value.
‘It’s helping us drive sales, it’s building greater engagement with both our teams and our guests, and those are just the right things for our business today.’
In an email sent to his own staffers obtained by Insider, however, the exec defended his decision to pull LGBTQ merchandise from some Southern stores days before Pride month of June, while slamming consumers who were making ‘threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and wellbeing.’
‘This has been a very hard day for Target, and it follows many difficult days of deliberation and decision-making,’ Cornell wrote to staff on Wednesday, according to a copy of the letter obtained by the outlet.
‘To the teams who have been working so hard on our plans for Pride – and now are showing incredible agility as we adjust – thank you,’ Cornell wrote. ‘Your efforts will ensure we can still show up and celebrate Pride in meaningful ways.’
He continued, ‘To the LGBTQIA+ community, one of the hardest parts in all of this was trying to contemplate how the adjustments we’re making to alleviate these threats to our team’s physical and psychological safety would impact you and your wellbeing and psychological safety.
‘We stand with you now and will continue to do so – not just during Pride Month, but each and every day.’
The Target boss went on to defend the company’s response to the ongoing situation, insisting that ‘from a host of difficult alternatives, we have sincerely sought the best path forward, finding ways to recognize Pride Month, while making adjustments to prioritize safety.
‘As always, we’re stronger together, and I want you to know that I’m committed to doing all I can, and all we can as a company, to support a culture across the country of care, empathy, equity and simple civility,’ Cornell said.
Target CEO letter to employees defending decision to pull Pride Collection items
Team –
I want to end the day where Briefly started: on a note of care. This has been a very hard day for Target, and it follows many difficult days of deliberation and decision-making.
To our team in Stores: thank you for steadfastly representing our values. No one is better at working through uncomfortable situations in service to an inclusive guest experience.
What you’ve seen in recent days went well beyond discomfort, and it has been gut-wrenching to see what you’ve confronted in our aisles.
To our team in the service centers, thank you for your patience and professionalism through high volumes of angry, abusive and threatening calls. I recognize how difficult and even frightening those interactions can be, and thank you for the composure with which you’ve fielded those comments.
To the teams who have been working so hard on our plans for Pride – and now are showing incredible agility as we adjust – thank you. Your efforts will ensure we can still show up and celebrate Pride in meaningful ways.
To the LGBTQIA+ community, one of the hardest parts in all of this was trying to contemplate how the adjustments we’re making to alleviate these threats to our team’s physical and psychological safety would impact you and your wellbeing and psychological safety. We stand with you now and will continue to do so – not just during Pride Month, but each and every day.
Those were the two guiding principles when it came time for us to act: do all we can to keep our team safe, and do all we can to honor our commitment and connection to the LGBTQIA+ community.
From a host of difficult alternatives, we have sincerely sought the best path forward, finding ways to recognize Pride Month, while making adjustments to prioritize safety. As always, we’re stronger together, and I want you to know that I’m committed to doing all I can, and all we can as a company, to support a culture across the country of care, empathy, equity and simple civility, in hopes that we’ll not have to face these kinds of agonizing decisions in the future.
Thank you for the care you’ve shown each other, our frontline teams and the LGBTQIA+ community.
Target holds ’emergency’ meeting over LGBTQ items
It has since been revealed that one of Target’s marketing executives also serves as the treasurer of a LGBT organization that receives millions of dollars from the retailer and advocates allowing trans and nonbinary school students to keep their gender identity secret from parents.
Carlos Saavedra, 43, is Target’s vice president for brand management and also volunteers as a director at GLSEN, which supports LGBTQ youth in schools.
Saavedra joined Target in July 2019 and was made Vice President, Brand Management in January 2021, according to his LinkedIn page.
His profile says he joined GLSEN as a board member in May 2019 and was elected to the executive committee as treasurer in November 2021.
Saavedra’s profile explains the organization’s mission is ‘helping create safe spaces in schools for LGBTQIA+ students’.
Meanwhile, the retailer has reportedly donated $2.1 million to GLSEN, whose policies include ensuring school staff should ‘ensure that all personally identifiable and medical information relating to transgender and nonbinary students is kept confidential’.
GLSEN’s policy said this should include withholding the information from ‘parents or guardians… unless the student has authorized such disclosure’.
It even provides instructions for teachers on how they can make classes such as math and science ‘more inclusive of trans and non-binary identities’, including using ‘they/them’ pronouns in lesson plans.
But critics say the policy ‘violates [a parents’] right to parent their own children]’.
In a statement on its website, Target says: ‘GLSEN leads the movement in creating affirming, accessible and anti-racist spaces for LGBTQIA+ students. We are proud of 10+ years of collaboration with GLSEN and continue to support their mission.’