Target might be forced to donate products from this year’s ill-fated LGBT “pride” campaign following consumer backlash, one retail expert predicted this week.
The big box giant angered customers after it was revealed it had displayed LGBT and transgender apparel and accessories at the front of stores across the country.
Some of the products were aimed at children.
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One garment, a “tuck-friendly” swimsuit in the women’s section, also drew the ire of customers.
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Target has posted a $9 billion loss in market cap in just a week after they faced backlash for their “Pride” gear which included tuck friendly swimsuits and other gender related products.
Just like Budweiser, they’re learning quickly that parents and normal… pic.twitter.com/WtRKlnFWQE
— 🇺🇸Travis🇺🇸 (@Travis_in_Flint) May 25, 2023
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Target, which has paid dearly financially for its corporate activism, is currently reviewing which products from the collection will be removed and which ones will stay.
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The company did sever ties with satanic LGBT merchandiser Abprallen when it was discovered the U.K.-based company wholly embraced blending satanism and gender ideology.
But while Target decides which products will be removed and which will be quietly moved farther to the back of stores, some are asking what will become of the merchandise that will not be sold.
The financial news outlet TheStreet spoke to one industry expert who predicted it will still be worn but the company will take a loss on it.
A woman named Jane Singer, who is the managing director of a company called Inside Fashion and JDT Research, said the merchandise will be too expensive to store.
“I'm guessing that (the clothing will) end up being donated,” Singer said.
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The supply chain expert added, “They can't sit in a warehouse because warehousing costs are very high. Also, Target needs to get that inventory off of their books to free up 'open to buy' dollars so that they can buy new merchandise.”
Singer said there are “lessons” from the backlash that can be learned from Target and other retailers which had campaigns go bust.
She did not expound on the statement to a large degree.
She compared Target’s decision to go all-in on “pride” apparel to Adidas and its decision to partner with Kanye West prior to a series of anti-Semitic statements he made last year.
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That put the "woke" company in the spot of having shoe inventory it struggled to move.
TheStreet reached out to Target for comment on what it intends to do with its “pride” merchandise.
A representative for the company responded, “We don’t have anything to share on this right now.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.