Brian Cornell to be replaced next year as retailer navigates boycott over its scaling back of DEI initiatives

The CEO of Target is stepping down, as the embattled retail giant seeks to turn around its fortunes amid an ongoing customer boycott over its scaling back of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

Brian Cornell will be replaced next year by Michael Fiddelke, Target’s chief operating officer, the company said on Wednesday.

  • NatakuNox@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    Go woke go broke??? :'(

    Lol spit in the face of the individuals and employees that made you great, then wonder why sales are down…

    • TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      Go woke go broke??? :'(

      Yeah, the term is really idiotic. Out of the many right wing propaganda, that one never stuck, thankfully.

      According to survey, the vast majority of Americans still believe in diversity. It is only the tiny miniscule of loud minority who keep harping as if “go woke go broke” is a popular sentiment, when in reality it’s not.

      But don’t be complacent and think Americans would never turn around from believing in diversity. If all eligible voters of Americans turned up on the election, only 30% voted for Trump. A similar amount of minority of eligible voters elected Hitler and the Nazis. It was only with sustained propaganda once the Nazis became firmly in control of the government that the Germans became steeped in the cult of group think, and forgot any semblance of humanity. With Project 2025, indoctrinating Americans is part of a similar agenda.

      Edit: wording

    • witten@lemmy.worldOP
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      6 days ago

      There’s nothing quite like the wrath of a pissed-off soccer mom—except for the wrath of a few million pissed-off soccer moms all working together to boycott your company.

    • BlackVenom@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      He’s on the board now and that’s basically a promotion - no real change here. Fuck target.

    • The Quuuuuill@slrpnk.net
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      6 days ago

      i mean. not really. his new position is to have more power within the company. the incoming CEO is the current COO (aka, the member of the board who actually does anything)

      this is the illusion of change. imagine you have a deck of cards. you add all the values cards to determine the overall structure of the deck. what happens when you shuffle it?

      • witten@lemmy.worldOP
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        6 days ago

        It’s the illusion of change because they are scared shitless, rearranging deck chairs to try to appease their investors—who are very much interested in Target “fixing” their falling sales. Jokes on them, though, because customers have found alternative (read: better) places to buy their shit and aren’t going back.

      • AlecSadler@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        6 days ago

        But sales are down (based on financials). Not as much as I hoped, but they are down. They are down while companies like Walmart and Costco are surging in the triple digits.

        At the end of the day I can at least be happy that some executives at target are QQ.

        • The Quuuuuill@slrpnk.net
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          6 days ago

          i don’t view sales going to walmart as a win. dollar general, walmart, and kroger are all festering wounds in our communities. however, i do think target losing business to walmart specifically speaks to something: people were going to target because they felt the value proposition was “less evil that wally world” but now it’s “walmart with higher prices for no real reason”.

          i think the real question is if local businesses are getting more of our dollars thanks to these actions

  • Sir_Kevin@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    6 days ago

    I’m in an area where target barely exists. Yesterday I was driving through a small town I’ve never been to. And there was a target. I thought “Wow a target! I have a gift card!”.

    Then I drove past it because I didn’t want to deal with their bullshit.

  • jordanlund@lemmy.worldM
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    6 days ago

    Last time I was in a Target they literally had nothing for me to buy. Just aisles of useless merch. Ended up getting a drink because I was thirsty and that was it.

    No Xbox games, old PS5/Switch games, horrible book section, no movies to speak of, no decent olive oil… Just a bad scene.

    It’s like they aren’t competing with Walmart or Kroger anymore and are just trying to be a super sized 7-11.

  • witten@lemmy.worldOP
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    6 days ago

    Original post was removed because I accidentally created an image post instead of one linking to the actual article. My bad.

  • IHeartBadCode@fedia.io
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    6 days ago

    amid an ongoing customer boycott over its scaling back of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives

    I mean, I’m sure that played a role. Myself though, I’m just priced out. Target is price slightly above Walmart but with marginal quality improvement. At this point in the game, I’m either dirt cheap or serious investment and I just can’t be in-between.

    • witten@lemmy.worldOP
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      6 days ago

      Reminder that there’s also a Walmart boycott due to their Trump-induced DEI rollbacks and their CEO attending Trump’s inauguration!

    • muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works
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      6 days ago

      Target used to have everything, was well staffed, and fewer incidents with the trash since they would primarily shop at Walmart. The prices were higher but not by much.

      Now the prices are much higher, the inventory is sparse, it’s poorly staffed, it’s like stepping into a Dollar Store.