When Target announced on January 24 that it would scale back diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) commitments, customers reacted swiftly, upset that a company that had so loudly touted its diversity initiatives appeared to be backtracking.
For 10 consecutive weeks, foot traffic at Target stores has declined — down 9% year-over-year in February and 6.5% year-over-year in March, according to data from analytics firm Placer.ai. While Placer.ai notes a variety of factors were likely to blame, like weather and a drop in post-holiday spending, Rev. Jamal Bryant has driven another reason for a drop-off: a fast — from shopping.
Bryant, the senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church near Atlanta, spearheaded a 40-day “fast” from shopping at the big-box store during Lent (March 5 to April 17). The Target Fast boycott had more than 200,000 participants, he said.
Target is just one of the companies now walking a tightrope, balancing the demands of President Donald Trump to end diversity efforts with what customers might want from the corporations they do business with.
“They hear me. The cash register hears me,” Bryant told CNN. “Power concedes nothing without a demand.”
The pressure is particularly acute at companies like Target, that had previously championed diversity in hiring and in sourcing their products.
Already, Bryant said, Target has ceded to one demand. After meeting with Target CEO Brian Cornell on Thursday, Bryant announced Sunday that Target agreed to honor its pledge to spend $2 billion with Black-owned businesses — a commitment initially made in 2021.
But that’s not enough. Bryant called for the boycott to continue and hopes Cornell will attend a town hall on Tuesday to address community concerns. Target did not respond to CNN’s latest request for comment.
The stakes are high for Target: Black Americans are expected to have a buying power of $2 trillion by 2026, up from $1.7 trillion in 2024, according to a report from The Nielsen Company.
“We saw (Target) as a friend. They championed diversity,” Bryant told CNN. “So, we were in shock and awe when they reversed what is their stance and position.”
A pressure campaign from all sides
Just four days into Trump’s presidency, Target announced it was eliminating hiring goals for minority employees, ending an executive committee focused on racial justice and making other changes to its diversity initiatives.
Target said it had a new strategy called “Belonging at the Bullseye,” which it first introduced last year, and the company remained committed to “creating a sense of belonging for our team, guests and communities.” Target also stressed the need for “staying in step with the evolving external landscape.”
Target is one of dozens of Fortune 500 companies that have backtracked on DEI in response to conservative court decisions, pressure from right-wing activists and legal groups, and, more recently, the Trump administration’s threats to investigate what it characterizes as “illegal DEI,” including potential criminal cases against companies. Trump in particular has railed against diversity efforts, including signing an executive action on his first day in office entitled “Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing.”
But no company has faced as fierce a blowback from DEI supporters as Target. Customers online have protested the decision, and Anne and Lucy Dayton, the daughters of one of Target’s co-founders, called the company’s actions “a betrayal.”
Target is under more pressure than companies like Walmart, John Deere or Tractor Supply, because Target went further in its DEI efforts, and it has a more progressive base of customers than those competitors.
Target was a leading advocate for DEI programs in the business world in the years after George Floyd was killed by a police officer in the company’s home city of Minneapolis in 2020. Target also spent years building a public reputation as a progressive employer on LGBTQ issues. Cornell defended the company’s diversity initiatives in 2023, attributing it to company growth in recent years and noting that the measures have helped Target add value, drive sales and build “greater engagement with both our teams and our guests.”
The blowback to Target’s DEI moves represents a significant challenge to its business and highlights the risks of companies abruptly moving away from diversity initiatives that still enjoy support on the left.
Boycotting a large business, hurting small ones
Bryant has called on consumers to buy directly from Black-owned businesses and sell their Target stock, adding to the retailer’s struggles at a time when investors were concerned about global trade tensions and economic uncertainty.
Target said in February that it continues to offer products from Black-owned and minority-owned businesses, adding that its Black History Month offerings were available in stores and online. But decreased spending at Target overall also means that minority-owned businesses on store shelves are earning far less.
On Friday, Bryant’s church opened the “Bullseye Black Market,” a marketplace with over 100 Black-owned businesses — some of which are currently sold at Target. It was available to the public until Sunday, when Bryant said the boycott would continue. In partnership with other churches, marketplaces opened in Chicago, Dallas, Houston and New York.
Chantel Powell, founder of Play Pits, a body care brand that has been on Target shelves since 2022, said store sales are down 30% from 2024. But there’s also been an increase in sales directly through her website, which she said shows “people are being more intentional about where they spend their dollars.”
“It felt like Target was for us. It felt like Target believed in us, and it wasn’t because it was a trend,” she said.
Target changing its DEI stance “felt like a rug pull,” said Carlton Mackey, founder of apparel brand Black Men Smile. In 2024, his products were part of Target’s Black History Month collection and sold in all 1,900 stores.
Now, he says that he can’t stand in solidarity with the company because of the DEI pullback.
The policy changes haven’t scared off everyone yet. Patrice Chappelle, co-founder of MelanBrand Skin, told CNN that she wanted to join Target’s Forward Founder program, which was previously for “historically under resourced founders.” Now she says her business has been “set back tremendously.”
“I hope that one day when they turn things around, we can still get into Target, but I know right now it’s not gonna be any time soon,” she said.
The post Target rolled back DEI efforts. A boycott ensued – and traffic dropped appeared first on CNN.
