Target loses $9B in week following boycott calls over LGBTQ-friendly kids clothing

[Transheuser-Busch]

Brian Cornell needs his ass kicked for allowing it to happen in the
first place.

https://nypost.com/wp-
content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NYPICHPDPICT000011720575.jpg?resize=768,82
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Target has lost $9 billion in market value since angry social media users
called for a boycott of the Minneapolis-based retailer over its rollout of
the “PRIDE” collection featuring LGBTQ-friendly clothing for children.

A week ago Wednesday before the controversy erupted, Target’s stock closed
at $160.96 a share, giving the big-box chain a market capitalization of
$74.3 billion.

As of early trading on Thursday, however, shares of the company were
trading off 1% at $141.76 — capping a weeklong tumble that has shrunk the
“cheap chic” discount retailer’s value to $65.3 billion.

That amounts to a 12% drop that has shaved a whopping $9 billion off the
company’s market capitalization.

Target said on Tuesday it was removing some items from its stores and
making other changes to its LGBTQ+ merchandise nationwide ahead of Pride
month after intense backlash from some customers who confronted workers
and tipped over displays.

“Since introducing this year’s collection, we’ve experienced threats
impacting our team members’ sense of safety and well-being while at work,”
Target said in a statement on Tuesday.

“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.”

Target said that customers knocked down Pride displays at some stores,
angrily approached workers and posted threatening videos on social media
from inside the stores.

That was just days after Target CEO Brian Cornell had defended the LBGTQ-
friendly merchandise, saying it was “the right thing for society.”

Target declined to specify Wednesday which items it was removing but among
the ones that garnered the most attention were “tuck friendly” women’s
swimsuits that allow trans women who have not had gender-affirming
operations to conceal their private parts.

Designs by Abprallen, a London-based company that designs and sells
occult- and satanic-themed LGBTQ+ clothing and accessories, have also
created backlash.

The Pride merchandise has been on sale since early May. Pride month is
held in June.

Target confirmed that it has moved its Pride merchandise from the front of
the stores to the back in some Southern stores after confrontations and
backlash from shoppers in those areas.

https://nypost.com/2023/05/25/target-loses-8b-in-week-since-boycott-calls-
over-pride-collection/

[Transheuser-Busch]

Brian Cornell doesn't make decisions for society. He misunderstands
his role, and does not understand one of the first major rules of
business regarding existing customer relationships, "Majority rules,
majority supplies your company revenue, Brian." Brian Cornell should
be removed.

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content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NYPICHPDPICT000011720575.jpg?resize=768,82
3&quality=75&strip=all

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy slammed Target, claiming
it “spit in the face” of its customers by releasing “PRIDE,” an LGBTQ-
friendly line featuring “tuck-friendly” swimwear and apparel including
pro-gay messages for kids.

Ramaswamy told Fox News that Target — which reported a $9 billion loss in
market value since the controversy over its Pride collection erupted —
that the loss is not the result of a boycott.

“That’s not a boycott, that’s just a response to a company that chooses to
spit in their face. I have no doubt that many companies do find wokeness
to be a good short-term trick,” he said Wednesday, according to Fox.

Ramaswamy added that “if a company makes a conscious business decision to
alienate a significant portion of its customer base, then it’s totally
fair game for its customers to respond accordingly.”

Target’s “wokeness” that the Republican presidential candidate was
referencing came in the form of “tuck-friendly” women’s swimwear.

The suits offer extra fabric in the crotch area, allowing trans women who
have not had gender-affirming operations to conceal their private parts.

Other clothes in the Pride collection are designed for children, including
T-shirts that say “Pride Adult Drag Queen ‘Katya,’” “Trans people will
always exist!” and “Girls Gays Theys.”

A week ago Wednesday, before the row over the LGBTQ apparel began,
Target’s stock closed at $160.96 a share, giving the big-box chain a
market capitalization of $74.3 billion.

As of Thursday afternoon trading, shares of the company were down 2.7% at
$139.24 — capping a weeklong tumble that has shrunk the “cheap chic”
discount retailer’s value to $64.25 billion.

That amounts to a 12% drop, resulting in an eye-popping $9 billion loss in
market value in the one-week time frame.

Target has since said it was pulling some of the Pride items from its
shelves, citing “threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and
well-being while at work,” though it was unclear which specific clothing
items would be removed.

Last week, Target CEO Brian Cornell dismissed the uproar over the
retailer’s new line, saying the products are good for business and “the
right thing for society.”

Ramaswamy, the author of “Woke, Inc.,” disagreed, saying wokeness is “bad
for companies and society at large in the long run.”

Since jumping on the Pride Month bandwagon, Target has “put a target on
its back from its base of consumers,” Ramaswamy added. “Just ask Budweiser
how that worked out for them,” he said.

https://nypost.com/2023/05/25/target-spit-in-the-face-of-customers-with-
pride-merch-vivek-ramaswamy/

[Transheuser-Busch]

Brian Cornell doesn't make decisions for society. He misunderstands
his role, and does not understand one of the first major rules of
business regarding existing customer relationships, "Majority rules,
majority supplies your company revenue, Brian." Brian Cornell should
be removed.

https://nypost.com/wp-
content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NYPICHPDPICT000011720575.jpg?resize=768,82
3&quality=75&strip=all

Megyn Kelly lashed out at Target over its new “PRIDE” collection that
includes “tuck-friendly” swimsuits for women.

The SiriusXM podcast host lambasted the LGBTQ-friendly swimwear for having
“extra material around the crotch, which no woman needs because we don’t
have penises down south in Rio.”

The host of the podcast “The Megyn Kelly Show” took Target CEO Brian
Cornell to task for “defending this.”

“Look, the extra crotch wear and the tuck-friendly bathing suits are
important,” Kelly mockingly quoted Cornell.

Kelly also criticized Target for contracting with Abprallen, a clothing
designer whose head has expressed sympathies for “satanist” ideology.

“So Target turned to them to make their new line of clothing, including
baby onesies with rainbow patterns, and at one point, selling their Pride-
related merch that read things like ‘We belong everywhere’ across the
trans flag, ‘Too queer for here,’ ‘Cure transphobia not trans people,’ and
so on,” Kelly said.

The Post has sought comment from Target.

In a podcast interview last week, Cornell pushed back on the idea that
companies were in the wrong by pursuing “woke” capitalism, saying it was
“the right thing for society.”

“When we think about purpose at Target, it’s really about helping all the
families, and that ‘all’ word is really important,” Cornell told Fortune’s
Leadership Next podcast.

“Most of America shops at Target, so we want to do the right thing to
support families across the country.”

Kelly and other commentators such as Tomi Lahren have warned that Target
is at risk of losing business just as Bud Light has seen its sales dip in
recent weeks.

The Anheuser-Busch beer brand was subjected to boycott calls from outraged
conservatives on social media who took issue with its marketing
partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

Target has now similarly come under fire after social media posts accused
it of marketing pro-LGBTQ apparel to children.

Several social media videos incorrectly alleged that “tuck-friendly”
swimwear was being sold to children, but the company clarified that the
bathing suits were for adults.

Target on Tuesday said that it would pull some LGBTQ-friendly kids
clothing from stores in the face of customer backlash.

The Minneapolis-based chain said one of the main factors for the
nationwide “adjustment” ahead of Pride month was because some customers
had violent confrontations with workers.

https://nypost.com/2023/05/25/megyn-kelly-blasts-target-over-tuck-
friendly-womens-swimsuits/

[Transheuser-Busch]

Brian Cornell doesn't make decisions for society. He misunderstands
his role, and does not understand one of the first major rules of
business regarding existing customer relationships, "Majority rules,
majority supplies your company revenue, Brian." Brian Cornell should
be removed.

https://nypost.com/wp-
content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NYPICHPDPICT000011720575.jpg?resize=768,82
3&quality=75&strip=all

Target shoppers fuming over the retailer’s LGBTQ merchandise — including
“tuck-friendly” swimwear — have stormed some stores to tear down Pride
signs, badger workers and even leave a case of Bud Light alongside the
offending items.

The Minneapolis-based chain — which has lost $9 billion in the last week
following boycott calls over LGBTQ-friendly kids clothing — has announced
it will remove some of the offending items partly due to their workers’
safety fears.

The online fury spilling over into the aisles includes one MAGA hat-
wearing provocateur who was filmed ripping down a “#TakePride” sign from a
clothing rack of LGBTQ apparel.

Ethan Schmidt — a 24-year-old far-right internet personality who
previously made headlines for his off-color remarks — is seen tossing the
rainbow-colored sign to the floor before stomping on it and kicking it in
the 19-second clip.

Another self-proclaimed patriot and activist, Scott LoBaido, filmed
himself on Wednesday at a Staten Island Target location shouting:
“Memorial Day weekend, where is the display supporting and showing homage
to the men and women of the military?”

“There’s a couple of little ‘Made in China’ pieces of s–t here,” he adds,
pointing to a small, three-shelf section with red, white and blue
paraphernalia.

“In November, do we get a veterans display that says ‘Proud to be a
veteran’? No, we do not,” LoBaido says before a Target employee approaches
and asks him to stop screaming.

“I just talk loud,” LoBaido replied, going on to increase his volume: “Get
rid of the kids’ s–t that doesn’t belong in here. You cater to 0.1%.
You’re going to go down like Budweiser!”

One Target shopper provided a more cheeky protest, placing a case of Bud
Light in a rack promoting Pride items — a reference to the beer brand’s
ill-fated partnership with trans social media star Dylan Mulvaney.

“Completed the Target display,” wrote one Twitter user after a photo was
posted to the social media site.

The Post reached out to Target for comment.

The retail giant has been forced to backtrack over its Pride collection
just a week after CEO Brian Cornell dismissed the uproar, saying the
products are good for business and “the right thing for society.”

https://nypost.com/2023/05/25/ethan-schmidt-tears-down-target-pride-sign-
over-lgbtq-merch/