The absolutely predictable pushback over Target’s wacko bathroom policy is costing the retailer giant more than anyone expected, including its CEO.
The blog post, published in April 2016, publicized a policy that said transgender customers were welcome to use the bathroom or fitting room that matched their gender identity.
“Everyone deserves to feel like they belong,” the post said. “And you’ll always be accepted, respected and welcomed at Target.”
Target CEO Brian Cornell never approved the post and found out about it only after it was published, according to The Wall Street Journal.
He later told colleagues that he wouldn’t have approved the decision to “flaunt” the policy and that the backlash was “self-inflicted,” The Journal reported.
The boycott cost the company millions in lost sales and added expenses. Shopper traffic and same-store sales started sliding for the first time in years after the blog post, and the company was forced to spend $20 million installing single-occupancy bathrooms in all its stores to give critics of the policy more privacy.
Critics of the policy said it opened the door for sexual predators to victimize women and children inside the retailer’s bathrooms, and more than 1.4 million people signed a pledge to stop shopping at Target unless it reversed the policy.
Sales fell nearly 6% in the three quarters after the post compared with the same period last year, and same-store sales have dropped every quarter since the post.
Cornell didn’t approve the post, according to The Journal, but he supported the policy in interviews after it was published.
A couple of things here. One. I don’t know how they could’ve been surprised that a policy such as this would’ve hurt. I don’t bring my kids there anymore.
Look, if I’m some kind of weirdo who wants to prey on women or children then I’m definitely shopping at Target for my prey. The essentially announced an invitation to perverts.
Secondly, it’s pretty horrifying that the CEO says he would’ve liked to institute this policy but not have “flaunted” it. So he would be ok with putting women and children in danger and NOT letting it be known publicly? I guess we should thank Target for their honesty. At least they’re willing to say they don’t care about protecting their customers, only political correctness.
Leave a Reply