You Won’t Believe What Target’s CEO is Blaming Their Sales Slump On

May 24, 2016 in News by RBN Staff

 

Source: Constitution.com | By Philip Hodges

Target’s CEO Brian Cornell said the recent sales slump the retailer has experienced has nothing to do with the 1.2 million (plus) people who have boycotted the company over its transgender restroom policy. Instead, it has to do with…climate change.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, CEO Brian Cornell said that their sales slump has to do with the weather: “It’s been a very wet and cold start to the year, and it’s reflected in our sales.” He added, “We haven’t seen anything from a structural standpoint that gives us pause.”

Ever since the retail giant’s April 19th announcement that their customers and employees should use the gender-specific restroom consistent with their “gender identity,” sales have fallen and continue to fall. In fact, since April 19th, the company has lost almost $6 billion in stock values.

While retailers in general have seen recent slumps, Target’s slump is more severe than its competitors’. From Breitbart:

Target has been on a downward trend exceeding the fall of its competitors. Target, for instance, says it will post a $1 to a $1.20 adjusted earnings per share, which is well below the $1.38 analysts expected. Further, at 1.2 percent, the company’s sales are below the 1.5 to 2.5 percent annual target it had hoped to realize. With the tumble, Target warned that its sales might be flat by the end of the second quarter.

A closer examination, however, shows that sales and the company’s reputation have taken a particular hit since its April 19 pro-transgender bathroom announcement, a decision that sponsored a major boycott movement that earned 1.2 million supporters in only a week’s time.

A recent Business Insider article noted that Target’s reputation has tumbled six points among consumers in the last several months. In the months prior to the bathroom policy announcement, 42 percent of consumers said they would shop at the department store chain. But in the month following the bathroom policy announcement, the number dropped to 36 percent.

The reports also found that consumer perception of the Target brand is at its lowest in two years.

It remains to be seen whether or not the boycott will have any lasting effect on the retailer, or if their sales will pick back up after a time.