Target is dialing back on Pride merchandise after right-wing backlash

Target is dialing back on Pride merchandise after right-wing backlash

Target is limiting the number of stores it will sell LGBTQ-themed merchandise for Pride Month in June following a boycott from far-right activists last year that hurt the brand’s standing.

This year, Target said it will sell only Pride-themed “adult apparel” and home goods “in select stores, based on historical sales performance” — a drastic reversal for the chain that has typically sold items in all US stores for the past decade.

About half of its 2,000 stores will sell the Pride collection, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the news. This variety will also be sold on Target’s website.

A Target spokesperson said in a statement to CNN that it is “committed to supporting” the LGBTQ community during Pride Month, citing internal programs and presence at local Pride events, including in its hometown of Minneapolis.

“Most importantly, we want to create a welcoming and supportive environment for our LGBTQIA+ team members, which reflects our culture of care for the more than 400,000 people who work at Target,” the company said in a statement.

The change is a “sensible approach,” Neil Saunders, managing director of retail for GlobalData, told CNN. But he warned “it runs the risk of Target being accused of not being proud of Pride.”

“Unfortunately for Target, it’s been dragged into a culture war and is in a position where it can’t win anything it does,” he said.

Pride problem
Last year, Target pulled Pride merchandise from several stores after the company and its employees became the focus of a “volatile” anti-LGBTQ campaign, which included threats against its store employees.

The company previously told the Wall Street Journal that people have confronted employees in stores, torn down displays of Pride merchandise and posted threatening posts on social media with videos from inside the store. Some people have thrown Pride items on the floor.

Prominent right-wing activists, Republican political leaders and conservative media have turned their attention to women’s swimwear described as “tuck-friendly” because of its ability to hide male genitalia. Misinformation is spreading on social media that it is marketed to children, which it is not.

That, coupled with soft demand for discretionary items, caused Target’s quarterly sales to fall for the first time in six years in the quarter that included sales of the Pride assortment.

A Target executive said on the earnings call that there was a “strong reaction” to the Pride merchandise and that the reaction was “a signal for us to pause, adjust and learn.”