FAFO: Target Experiences Sharp Decline In Sales After Dropping DEI
Written by djfrosty on May 23, 2025
Target just found out that diversity matters. Their sales took a noticeable decline after dropping their DEI programming.
As spotted on Daily KOS the national retailer experienced a noticeable drop of 3.8% in sales, both in store and online, compared to the year prior. Additionally, Target also saw their average transaction value decline as well as the number of shopper visits at their brick and mortar locations. On a recent earnings call Target CEO Brian Cornell attributed the loss to “ongoing pressure in our discretionary business, plus five consecutive months of declining consumer confidence, tariff uncertainty and the reaction to the updates we shared on belonging in January.”
While Cornell did not go into more specifics it is widely assumed the “updates” from January refer to Target dropping their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives. Four days after President Trump was inaugurated the company sent their employees a memo announcing they would be rolling back their DEI efforts which also included a program that highlighted products from minority owned business. “Many years of data, insights, listening and learning have been shaping this next chapter in our strategy,” Kiera Fernandez, chief community impact and equity officer at Target said in the memo. “And as a retailer that serves millions of consumers every day, we understand the importance of staying in step with the evolving external landscape, now and in the future – all in service of driving Target’s growth and winning together.”
Target faced immediate backlash after canceling their DEI with several high profile community leaders asking people of color to boycott the mass-market retain chain.