Thread regarding Target Corp. layoffs

@hp hardly broke. Still making tons of $$$$.

@av Team members are heads down focused on fulfilling online orders and routinely avoid engaging guests.

Partially true.

Team members are overworked and understaffed.

A laser like focus on metrics by HQ means that team members are routinely pulled from their main work center to help keep Fulfillment metrics Green by picking/prepping/packing orders.

The impossible time restrictions, and uncertainty of the number of orders per day -- means that team members are forced to do anything and everything to achieve the Metrics for Pick On Time, and INF plus Drive Up times.

Ergo, we have no time to stock shelves, zone, cashier or even greet & help guests -- we have Metrics to meet!

Come into a store and pick a 40 item grocery batch in 35 minutes -- ensure nothing is damaged, and make sure everything is bagged and Put To Hold correctly with Zero INFs.

It's damn near impossible, especially if the floor isn't stocked, and the items are on a "pallet or uboat somewhere in a packed Walk-in cooler/freezer."

Target needs to rethink it's love for metrics. Stores are faking them (unprocessed clearance, unset, but TIED POGS, keying in items to avoid an INF, substituting items to avoid an INF, etc.) to keep metrics "green." Imagine the chaos caused by tied but unset POGs.

Batches are too big for fulfillment (some just barely fit on a cart) and times are too short.

So, don't blame the team members for doing what they are forced to do by HQ's love of metrics.

@ct https://www.economist.com/business/2025/05/15/how-walmart-became-a-tech-giant-and-took-over-the-world

Yes.... a significant portion of Walmarts growth is now in Tech services for others.

I’m afraid this is an inconvenient truth. The stores are a mess and the problem is, most people who work at HQ don’t know what a good looking store should look like. And if they did, they wouldn’t be happy with how the stores currently look like and operate. It’s sad. Here’s another unpopular opinion, Target needs to either leave Minnesota altogether, or inject much needed non-Minnesota voices in every room. What everyone is seeing play out right now, from the awful pullback of DEI with no apology, to the botched RIF, is peak Minnesota culture and behavior. Sweep everything under the rug and hope it goes away because we’re “nice people”. It pains me to say this as a Minnesota native.

@hg Not 100% true. Target went broke after years of poor leadership. "Backtracking" on DEI (they just changed the names and kept the DEI programs) was the final nail. The right may have started cancel culture, but can't effectively boycott anything. The left is currently curb stomping the sh*t out of Target.

Target played the political game nonetheless and now must pay the price. Unfortunately, leadership still can't find it's way out of a wet paper bag.

@OP once Target went WOKE they went broke. Next Kmart in the making just with a cleaner store

@d7 Go ahead give me an example.

@ct common sense lol

Is Walmart really years ahead on technology? Which technologies specifically that are being used by employees and customers?

The only time I shopped at Target was when I worked for corporate and I was regularly challenged with out of stocks but liked my discount. Since I quit, there’s no reason to drive out of my way to deal with this. I’ve found Amazon fresh to be cheaper and rarely out of stock, and delivers to my home that is rurally located. Never stepping foot in a Target again.

@b0 Minneapolis stores are decent. You should try leaving MN. Like OP said, some markets are really rough. I've been in ~600 stores over the last 4 years.

If you still disagree, go read r/Target. There's a reason store TMs are mad at HQ.

I've shopped at Target most of my life, and I'd agree on Target's downfall. I was shocked when I heard they're locking up freaking deodorant, and I need to call a store employee to get something worth $2, I'll go elsewhere (Menard's in this case, which does NOT lock up the deodorant and has better prices). I barely go now for several reasons, and only when Target has something I can't find easily elsewhere.

The few times I've gone to Target, they've been out of the common grocery item I was looking for. This basically never happens anywhere else. This isn't uncommon from what I've heard on the internets. Oh, but then they have 10 different kinds of Cheerios? Weird.

Then there's the "everything has to POP!" trend they've specifically designed into the stores. The designers have made everything in the store designed to distract everyone in the store to SELL MORE! The end effect is that I no longer want to spend any time in the store as it doesn't feel comfortable anymore. It's all designed to say "look at me! look at me!" with bright displays. At one point I saw they even put advertisements projected onto the floor! I guess that turned out to be "too much" as it went away pretty quick

If anyone here works in the look-and-feel department, stop trying to project ENERGY, and start trying to project warmth and comfort. 10 years ago that's how these stores used to feel. No longer.

Why do you think we don’t to the stores . . . ? Genuine question. That’s a weird assumption considering that most people live within a couple miles of a store and we get an employee discount. Most of us are shopping there weekly to get our groceries.

Maybe Walmart hq employees don’t go to stores? Idk. This just a very strange assumption.

In my view while Target’s Pickup & Delivery Services are great for online shoppers the unintended consequence is that the in-store quest experience has suffered. Team members are heads down focused on fulfilling online orders and routinely avoid engaging guests.

I moved my freshman into college this August, and as a former Target employee, I naturally drove straight to the local Target store. I was excited — ready to help her fill the cart with all the essentials for her first year.

But that excitement quickly turned into disappointment.

First, there were no carts available. Yes, you read that right — no carts. It’s hard to sell product when customers don’t have a way to shop.

Second, when I asked to speak with the Store Manager to share some feedback, her response was a shoulder shrug — visibly annoyed that I’d even bothered her. That was the final straw. We left and drove straight to Walmart, where we completed an important shopping trip — and, for us, a meaningful life milestone.

People often debate whether Target’s DEI decisions have hurt sales. In my opinion, that’s not the biggest problem. The real issue is poor store execution and uninspired, “me-too” merchandise.

Walmart has always been store-oriented, while Target has been headquarters-oriented. One company is clearly out-executing the other — and staying out of the culture wars while doing it. The results speak for themselves.

Time will tell if Target’s leadership can turn it around.