Target

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Target Corporation is an American retail corporation. The eighth-largest retailer in the United States, it is a component of the S&P 500 Index. Target established itself as the discount division of the Dayton's Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1962; it began expanding the store nationwide in the 1980s (as part of the Dayton-Hudson Corporation), and introduced new store formats under the Target brand in the 1990s. The company has found success as a cheap-chic player in the industry. The parent company was renamed the Target Corporation in 2000, and divested itself of its last department-store chains in 2004.[1]

Supports to Black Lives Matter

After George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police at the end of May 2020, Target CEO Brian Cornell shared the retail giant’s commitment to stand with Black families and fight against racism. Target announced a $10 million commitment in an effort to advance social justice through supporting partners like the National Urban League and the African American Leadership Forum. The brand also committed 10,000 hours of pro-bono consulting for small business in the Twin Cities that are black-owned or owned by people of color.[2]

Target then launched a Racial Equity Action and Change committee (REACH) — made up of six senior company leaders — to create an action plan. While the company continues to push for progress on its existing goals around diversity and inclusion, Cornell and the REACH committee shared a new action plan this week, which focuses on four areas: Team, Guests, Communities and Civic Engagement and Public Policy.[3]

  • TEAM: The company pledges to bring this to life through anti-racism training and education for all team members; as well as career development, progression and advancement for Black team members — with a commitment to increase Black representation and reduce turnover at every level.
  • Guests: Target will "create environments where Black guests feel overtly welcome and see themselves represented across our products, marketing and shopping experiences."
  • Communities: Target says it will "find new ways to accelerate the prosperity of Black communities" — including prioritizing philanthropic investments and designing volunteer projects to address racial inequities faced by Black communities.
  • Civic engagement & public policy: In its work with policy makers, Target has committed to stand up on key issues that will help end systemic racism — including safety and police reform, education and economic opportunities; and support non-partisan efforts to encourage fair, accessible and safe voting.[3]

In September 2020, Target also pledged Thursday to increase representation of Black employees across its workforce by 20% over the next three years. The big-box retailer’s workforce of nearly 350,000 employees skews White, particularly among its top executives. About 75% of its leadership team is White and 8% are Black, based on 2019 data. That rises to nearly a quarter, however, when including all people of color like Latinos and Asians. Its overall workforce — which includes hourly store employees who stock shelves and check out customers — is more mixed, with 50% made up of White workers, 25% Latino and 15% Black, as the top three groups.[4]

References

  1. Target Corporation. Wikipedia. Retrieved Feb 1, 2021.
  2. Livingston, Mercey. These are the major brands donating to the Black Lives Matter movement. June 16, 2020. cnet.com. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Target Reveals Sweeping Action Plan to Advance Racial Equity. sustainablebrands.com. Retrieved Feb 1, 2021.
  4. Repko, Melissa. Target pledges to increase number of Black employees by 20% as companies are pressured to take action. Sep 10, 2020. cnbc.com. Retrieved Feb 1, 2021.