XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.politics.homosexuality, sac.politics   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns   
   From: woke.going.broke@target.com   
      
   Molly Bolt  wrote in   
   news:e7f163a5-4eab-4170-ab43-9ccec75af0b2n@googlegroups.com:   
      
   > Trget still does not get it.  Let's put Target out of business like   
   > Tuesday morning, K-Mart, Sears, Penske and Venture Stores. Target is   
   > out of touch with their consumer base and there are other convenient   
   > NON-WOKE / NON-QUEER PROMOTING suppliers available.  Brian Cornell is   
   > clueless and should have been fired, but he's still there waiting for   
   > punishment.   
      
   Thefts at Target have become increasingly violent and dangerous for   
   staffers, the retail giant’s CEO told investors on Wednesday.   
      
   Shoplifting that included “violence of threats of violence” surged 120%   
   during the first five months of the year, said Brian Cornell, chief   
   executive of the Minneapolis-based big-box chain.   
      
   “Our team continues to face an unacceptable amount of retail theft and   
   organized retail crime,” Cornell said during the company’s   
   second-quarter earnings call. “Unfortunately, safety incidents   
   associated with theft are moving in the wrong direction.”   
      
   Cornell said that Target’s inventory shrink — which accounts for retail   
   theft and other losses of merchandise — is “well-above the sustainable   
   level where we expect to operate over time.”   
      
   The National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group,   
   said its latest security survey of roughly 60 retailers found shrink   
   clocked in at an average rate of 1.4% last year, representing $94.5   
   billion in losses.   
      
   The greatest portion of shrink — 37% — came from external theft,   
   including products taken during organized shoplifting incidents, the   
   trade group said.   
      
   It also noted retailers, on average, saw a 26.5% uptick in organized   
   theft incidents last year.   
      
   Target reported its first quarterly sales drop in six years —   
   contributed in part by the calls to boycott the brand over the   
   LGBTQ-friendly merchandise.   
      
   Profit for the fiscal second quarter came in above expectations,   
   however, as Target brought inventories closer in line with cautious   
   spending on discretionary items by customers.   
      
   Cornell also addressed the threats to staffers in the wake of the   
   controversy surrounding the sale of LGBTQ-related merchandise during   
   Pride Month.   
      
   In May, customers knocked down Pride displays at some stores, angrily   
   approached workers and posted threatening videos on social media from   
   inside the stores.   
      
   The backlash, which included calls to boycott the company over its sale   
   of “tuck-friendly” bathing suits, prompted Target to remove some items   
   from its store and even relocate the merchandise to the rear of the   
   locations.   
      
   “We denounce violence and hate of all kinds, and safety of our team and   
   our guests is our top priority,” Cornell told investors during   
   Wednesday’s earnings call.   
      
   Despite the losses, Target will still be celebrating Pride Month in   
   2024, Cornell said, noting that future collections will focus on being   
   “celebratory and joyous, with wide-ranging relevance.”   
      
   Target will also be “mindful of timing, placement and presentation” of   
   its future Pride collections, Cornell added.   
      
   “Pride is one of many heritage moments that are important to our guests   
   and our team, and we’ll continue to support these moments in the   
   future.”   
      
   Target’s CFO Michael Fiddelke addressed Target’s disastrous rainbow-clad   
   collection in an earnings call on Wednesday, saying: “Traffic and top   
   line trends were affected by the reaction to our Pride assortment.”   
      
   Cornell said higher high prices for food and household essentials are   
   taking a bigger chunk out of the paychecks of customers, who have also   
   pulled back on buying some goods in favor of travel or spending time out   
   of the house in other ways.   
      
   “Guests are out at concerts,” Cornell told reporters on a media call   
   Tuesday.   
      
   “They’re going to movies. They’ve seen ‘Barbie.’ They’re enjoying those   
   experiential moments, and they’re shopping very carefully for   
   discretionary goods.”   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)