If the decision is already made, then let’s use the next two days to be advisors to our leadership — not bystanders. we are better than the external consulting companies.
Why did Target really fail?
What are the ground-level truths about where our leadership fell short?
Which decisions over the past 3–4 years should have been made differently — or not made at all?
@n0 *new leadership in Owned Brands.
This is from a thread I posted Friday that was deleted. I did call out names, so that’s probably why. Anyway, I’ve edited to (hopefully) meet the content guidelines.
IMO, if we truly want to strengthen our leadership in style and design, we need new leadership. Not all are bad, but several have done nothing but drive Owned Brands into the ground, A&A in particular.
These leaders have no respect for the skills of Design and Technical Design teams, and think having vendors do everything is the way to go. How many times does that plan have to fail before they realize it doesn’t work?!
If we look back at the heyday of Target’s reputation for style and design, it was when we were building up and then had a true Product Design and Development org. in place (then called PD&D), and we need to go back to that with leaders in place who have true private label product development experience.
@mw I literally had the 5 year stock history up as I wrote that. You can go look for yourself. Dipped from may of 23 and was fully rebounded by Feb of 24.
Enjoy your koolaid buddy
@mt it never went back up. What are you even talking about
@mt you missed that they pi---d off the right first. They made the big impact. It didn’t help they pi---d off the left as well. Turns out not everyone want bullsh-t shoved down their throats. They just want to shop. The fact you think the left caused this is humorous. The numbers don’t lie.
@mq you said it yourself, they pi---d off the left when they pulled the pride stuff after caving to right wing nuts over lies that there was tucking swimwear for kids. Target should have fact checked those losers but instead they pulled the items which looked like an admission of guilt.
The stock temporarily dipped after May of 23 but then was back to around the same price in Feb of 24. Nothing like the free fall seen since they caved to the pedo administration and did away with DEI.
DEI boycott worked and was long lasting. Can’t say the same about the right wing snowflake ones.
@fk yes they did. Target completely tanked after that pride disaster and they didn’t recover. Then they managed to pi-s off the left. So the company pi---d off both sides. This notion that you made Target go broke is funny.
@bs I think you are out of touch.
Admittedly a former Target employee but I l
oved the brand. Now the stores look like he-l. The merchants do not seem to be aware of what other retailers are selling and for what prices. Marketing leaders say things like "it needs more joy" to agency partners. Once Target lost the values alignment of some customers- Target lost an emotional connection. Now it's all about what is sold and for what price. The same graphic tees target has for $14 are $5.55 at 5 below. Woolrich and Champion? ok boomers. There is no amount of "joy" that negates the rage many have that Target donated to Trump's parties, so don't pretend people love Target anymore.
“Directors” with zero domain expertise leading functions they don’t know anything about. Why this is a thing at Target I don’t know, but many wouldn’t even get interviews for equivalent roles outside.
@OP horrible communications strategy over the last 3+ years. One self-inflicted wound after the other. Basic stuff too. It's a shame.
Target started by allowing weird stuff with its bathrooms and then things got stranger as time went on.
this is the path of wokeness and sadness
@fj lollll except target went anti-woke and went broke. None of the right wing nut job boycotts ever had any significant impact (mainly bc those people never shopped at target to begin with)
@bs is that you Fiddelke?
I work for an OB. For context, I am newer to the company & have worked at other companies that have disrupted the industry. Here’s my two cents based on past job experience vs current role at Target.
My number one gripe - Lots of people who have worked at Target for a long time but haven’t adapted with the times. It feels like they’re out of touch or refuse to embrace new tech or operating procedures. I’m floored that we haven’t found a way to work on a faster calendar when other competitors have been doing fast fashion for over 15 years now. Anytime a team tries to explore a faster model or new tech, there’s resistance to change from people who are stuck in their ways. It’s no wonder why there will be massive layoffs - smaller and agile teams usually pave the way for innovation.
This might be an unpopular opinion, but I embrace “progress over perfection”. Not enough people adopt that mentality and I believe it has hurt us. How else do you rapidly test, prototype, and learn? Our competitors do it and have gotten ahead. Perfection is beside the point. Target employees get stuck in over analyzing whether or not something is right, leading to stalled decision-making. Analysis paralysis. While I appreciate the Target team being so passionate and wanting to “get it right”, they end up getting stuck on the wrong things, which stalls innovation. Is this an after effect of Target-lifers who don’t adapt with the times? Is this a result of recruiting local folks who don’t bring experience from other companies?
I also haven’t been super impressed with our merch team. There’s too many of them with overlapping roles/responsibilities. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were huge cuts in this org. I understand it is their job to be analytical and assort items that sell, but they often buy the boring “been there done that” stuff that doesn’t translate to what the Guest actually wants. Is this why MF wants us to prioritize “style and design”? Merch team feels so out of touch with the market, but they have a million opinions about everything yet ironically they never actually possess a clear point of view. Merch is necessary to the success of Target, but I wonder if we have the “right” talent making decisions there.
I also find our website and app experience so baffling. Can’t find a single thing. It feels like Target has lost its identity. I know Guests (used to) love the store experience but feels like we’ve been trying to pivot to the Amazon style marketplace. It’s gotten to the point where our digital experience looks outdated.
I know DEI or going “too woke” has hurt us in some ways, but I think the cracks started appearing way before that.
Also - we are quite expensive compared to Walmart and Amazon. We can’t compete with their grocery prices either. Idk how to solve this, but it feels like the Guest can no longer justify spending at Target if they can get something similar for cheaper elsewhere.
If we’re laid off they don’t deserve the intel, they could’ve gotten it from current TMs. Nonetheless, I think the following are the biggest issues:
@OP hindsight is 20/20
Basically The CSuite has wanted to reshape Target into a digitally focused marketplace with retail acting as a distribution center for localities since the mid twenty teens. The plan was always to divest from the risky state of physical retail to a more flexible marketplace like model, where Target was the middleman, controlling a hybrid digital/retail marketplace. In a marketplace with access and distribution controlled by Target they could simply skim profits generated by vendors selling to direct to customers. All they had to do was build a walled garden (or a CIRCLE…!?!?!), and profit from access to it.
These plans to disrupt Target started before Brian Cornell came in, but were “deterred” by the double digit profit and growth during and just after COVID amid the consumptive explosion that remote work brought in.
Couple that with the PR nightmare of having a store burnt down in a riot in the company’s home town and publicly flagellating themselves by creating, introducing and unleashing a DEI agenda that promised far more than it could deliver and turned their trademarked name into a self fulfilling prophecy for the right wing.
It’s worth knowing that the CSuite allowed DEI to flourish only as long as the profits and PR kept up, and when the backlash came, they dropped it quickly without fanfare, like an unwanted hunting dog in a South Dakota gravel pit, because it wasn’t profitable. It was a money and marketing lever to be pulled and to be released once its efficacy was gone.
They shelved their plans for when the time was right; and now the time has come and they have to put their plans back on track. Because they don’t have a plan “B” or another pivot.
But things didn’t go back how they were in 2019 which didn't make it as easy of a pivot as was intended. Inflation was way up and discretionary consumer spending cratered (consumer discretionary spending and affordable, highly curated trend following assortments was Target’s differentiator from all other retail). This didn’t put a crimp in their plans, it just made it a harder pivot and made it more disruptive to the corp culture and workforce.
The old school merchandizing mentality and guest focused culture of Tar-ZHEY’s upper level management was always an impediment to the new direction. But the collapse of discretionary spending and the impact of an economic downturn, inflation and tariffs gave the CSuite an excuse to act.
So, like DEI, the old, “dead” weight of managers and leaders who were trend, retail and customer obsessed, were dropped as well. Yes lots of them were mailing it in. No argument there. Their culture and outlook wasn’t profitable in a scarce and stagnant economy or part of this New World Order, and were getting in the way of the “future thinking, operations obsessed, disruptive visionary” hallucinations CSuite Leaders had.
And here we are.
It’s worth noticing how un-original this “new” direction is nowadays. Pre-COVID everyone had this idea, and now nearly everyone is deep in the depths of doing it. So deep, we have a term for it: Enshittification. <—go and google it if you don’t know it…I’ll wait
Nah I wont. I’m done
@am sometimes the ones that have a high performer review are because they kiss a**es, not actually because they work. Instead of choosing talented people, they just choose 'their people'. That is another reason why Target is where it is... favoritism at its finest.
Team Voice survey was totally ignored by leadership. otherwise why would they do RTO inspite of all feedbacks from all of us?
@ap a finance guy who claims that “style & design” is how he’s going to dig out of this mess.
@bs JFC. More AI sh-t
Let’s REFRAME a toxic layoff narrative into something CONSTRUCTIVE and STRATEGIC. And PIVOT the “doom and blame” chatter into powerful reframes that highlight WHAT TARGET DID RIGHT before the downturn — to reset mindset and rally credibility:
1️⃣ TARGET BUILT A RELENTLESSLY GUEST-FOCUSED BRAND:
Before anything else, Target won hearts by making “expect more, pay less” feel aspirational. Few retailers blended value and style at scale that way. That DNA still matters — and it’s a foundation others envy.
2️⃣ IT MASTERED THE ART OF PRIVATE LABEL POWER:
Target didn’t just sell brands — it created them. From Good & Gather to Threshold, its owned brands built trust, loyalty, and margin flexibility. That’s long-term strategic thinking, not short-term reaction.
3️⃣ TARGET GOT DIGITAL BEFORE IT WAS COOL:
Drive Up, Order Pickup, and same-day delivery through Shipt were category-leading moves. While others scrambled post-pandemic, Target already had the muscle memory. That’s foresight and operational excellence.
4️⃣ IT CULTIVATED A CULTURE OF DESIGN-LED INNOVATION:
Partnerships with designers, influencer collabs, and curated curation (yes, intentionally redundant) gave Target cultural relevance. You can’t teach taste — and Target institutionalized it.
5️⃣ TARGET ELEVATED STORE TEAMS AS BRAND AMBASSADORS:
The company made store employees the face of the brand — authentic, friendly, human. That connection with guests built resilience through crises. Retail is human — Target never forgot that.
6️⃣ IT PLAYED THE LONG GAME ON SUSTAINABILITY & ETHICS:
While many competitors dragged their feet, Target built responsible sourcing, DE&I, and sustainability into its brand promise. Those pillars will pay dividends when the market rebounds.
7️⃣ IT KEPT EXPERIMENTING — EVEN WHEN THE MARKET PUNISHED IT:
The bold test-and-learn culture (from small-format stores to tech investments) shows leadership wasn’t afraid to swing. Growth always carries risk — and the willingness to risk is the seed of reinvention.
8️⃣ TARGET CREATED ENTERPRISE MUSCLE FOR FUTURE PIVOTS:
Centralized systems, supplier partnerships, and digital integration — those aren’t symptoms of decline, they’re scaffolding for the next act. This is infrastructure for recovery, not regret.
9️⃣ THE BRAND STILL OWNS “TRUST + TREND”:
That sweet spot — between Walmart’s utility and Nordstrom’s aspiration — still belongs to Target. The downturn doesn’t erase that; it just demands new executional clarity.
🔟 THE STORY ISN’T OVER:
Target has always thrived when backed into a corner — that’s when creativity surges, bureaucracy thins, and leaders rise. The current challenge? The next great reset moment.
@aj yes to all of this
DEI.
But I still see people on here trying to make excuses. Meanwhile, your jobs will get shipped to India. Good luck, but you will never learn, because you are in a cult.
Former target shopper here. Whole Pro/anti DEI stuff they did was weird but it's whatever.
What really put me off is the self checkouts and the undercover prevention just making me super uncomfortable. Used to shop around and throw sh-t in the cart, then end up with a bill of $300 when I just needed a few things.
Now they are so aggressive and almost accusatory. So I can't really shop around without feeling rushed/uncomfortable.
I think our one of our biggest issues is realizing the impact social media has. Allowing any decision made by leadership to be turned into a social media nightmare & NOT even trying to better the situation is gold for SM. DEI aside, remember the bathroom boycott? Why can't TGT just say SOMETHING to address their decisions honestly. Instead they just let them play out & say nothing. So the bathroom boycott didn't make much impact, but the DEI boycott sure did. I understand why businesses have to get involved in politics because politics play a dirty game & our stores need support in their respective cities/states. However, all businesses need to realize the customers do NOT want to know this side. They want to see products they want. They don't want to make a second stop on the way home to get whatever many items that they couldn't get at TGT.
Target plus is a mess and with that team constantly being pushed to drive more sales it only makes our owned brand products harder to find. Which is crazy when you consider that they keep saying owned brand product is our right to win to turn sales around.
None of the right inventory in stores or online makes it really hard for people to get what they want, when they want it.
We are super slow and super late for Tech investments. Its a Tech top leadership miss. To get some data we need to limp across sad tools and platforms, which are worse than worst industry tools over a decade. We are now thinking of cloud platforms, like 10 years later?
Targeting L6 and below would be bad idea, that would mess up the executions for a year or more.
@ap I think I know who you are talking about and you are right. The dude has no idea how Target works and he’s so interested in changing things that actually learning
@OP Too many layers in leadership, board surrounded themselves with leadership who sold narratives and not results. There are so many separate leaders at L7/L8 over glorified roles for each small business function, Product, Analytics, Sciences and Tech.
I am curious who those folks are in the C-suite from TII. I don't think there are any. As far as I know, there are 3 SVPs at TII (one of them being the TII President), and that's it.
The reason for the downfall is plain and simple: We don't sell enough variety of items to get people to our stores. And if at all we manage to do that, the poor condition of the shelves/stores makes it really bad.
I know that there is a good amount of folks/decision makers, especially in the Product and Business side, who are skeptical about any change, even if that would make things 100x better. We have leaders who decide against what's good for Target, only because they/their team would have to change/be at risk.
Coming from Tech, here is what I am seeing - Sr Manager/DoE, DoT, SDoT, VP, SVP - That's almost 5 levels of decision making. Even if they manage to do it, there will be a product/business pushback because they lack exposure. Most of the product folks seem to be documentation and meeting experts - not wanting to get their hands dirty with work.
And, personally, one of the biggest challenges is Pay. Target's pay is not even mediocre. There is no right incentive for the TMs to go that extra mile. Even if someone wants to, beyond all of the challenges, the system is set in such a way that they're bound to fail. It's not the outcome, but the "values" that matter! We're know for being laid back, and vast majority of folks do the bare minumum that is expected of their job.
And even now, instead of focusing on what matters, most of the folks here are crying, "TII is the issue". 8% less on payroll doesn't make much of a difference for Target.
What went wrong was hiring an operation guy from Walmart.
The current mistake is having a Finance guy run the company.
While I agree on all sentiments about DEI, if we had things in the stores that people wanted/needed to buy it wouldn’t matter. Some stopped going to target for a week and realized they didn’t need to go to Target at all. If you had a preference for target based on politics, that’s gone you can just go anywhere. And we’re getting beat on price with increasing quality from other retailers. I’ve personally gone to the store ready to spend and walked out with much less than budgeted simply because I couldn’t find things I wanted to buy… and I wanted to shop. I couldn’t find anything to buy during circle week either.
We never fire poor performers. We preach about high performing teams but it’s not true.
We preach One Team but there’s lots of teams thad don’t get along and can’t work together.
We truly did make it too complex. All those POGS, all that signage, all those fixtures. It’s impossible.
Too many softwares.
Too much to India.
Poor quality merch.
Circle is confusing. What’s the point of the loyalty program?
Understaffed the stores. Didn’t maintain the stores.
@aj 💯 nailed it
If you ask me "progress over perfection". Feels like we have done too many things fast and furious in an effort to compete vs. Taking the time to get it right and to it well. Everything feels half arsed and thrown together and then we all spend our time in firedrills because of that.
Also, mistep after mistep... I wondered year after year if those who made bad design, too much inventory, poor oversight of pride collections, DEI end and lack of communication surrounding all those decisions were held responsible. My hope is this is a purge of the level of leadership that made all that happen.
BC is what went wrong with Target. Period.
Several L7–L8 leaders focused on advancing personal growth stories instead of enabling collective Target growth — undermining collaboration, innovation, and delivery accountability