Target Sales, Popularity Decline: DEI Rollback, Messy Stores, Economy

Rachelle Biennestin decided to break a habit this year.

The 31-year-old used to regularly visit Target to buy clothes, cat stuff, video games, and groceries, including her beloved snack: chocolate-covered pretzels. Last year, she said, she started noticing a change at her happy place, including messy shelves, fewer workers, and a shift to self-checkout.

“Target used to get this rep that it was the fancier, nicer Walmart,” she told BI. Suddenly, she said, “it wasn’t this nice, magical place anymore.”

In January, the company said it was rolling back some of its commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion. That’s when she decided to ditch Target. She got a Costco membership instead and has been frequenting local grocery stores and small businesses.

“I have not been back at all, and I’m happy about it,” Biennestin said, adding, “It was easier than I thought it would be.”

Target has long been a shopper’s darling. The elevated alternative to other big-box retailers inspired many social media posts about cruising the aisles for fun, grabbing some treats, and accidentally spending too much money. Its splurge-worthy cachet earned it the nickname “Tarzhay.” Target is still a big-box behemoth, raking in $106.6 billion in 2024 and the 11th most popular department store in the country, per market research firm YouGov.

Something has shifted in recent months. Target’s customers have been turning away from the brand, driven by a confluence of anger at the DEI rollback, complaints about the in-store experience, and overall economic stress. Their displeasure is showing up in scores of critical videos posted to TikTok and Instagram, and in companywide metrics: comparable-store sales, transactions, and money spent per visit were all down in the most recent quarter.

“Target used to be a treat like, ‘yep, I’m going to go to this exclusive club-type place and spend my money here and maybe get a little Starbucks drink afterward,” Biennestin said. “That’s how it felt before 2025.”

Messy shelves and lost sparkle

A number of former customers told BI that they felt the in-store experience they used to treasure at Target had begun to degrade. They cited messy displays and a lack of workers, particularly at checkout.

Starting in 2024, “I noticed that there would not be a lot of staff,” Biennestin said. “We would be forced to do self-checkout.”

A Target spokesperson said that self-checkout has sped up the customer experience and that the average staff per store has not declined over the last three years.

Michael Kocher, a 26-year-old in New York and former avid Target shopper, said his local store became less convenient because it locked so many items in cases, and he’d often have to wait for help to get what he needed.

Andra North, a 36-year-old director of operations and mother in California, said she used to visit Target more than any other store. Her kids used to get excited when they pulled into the store with red carts.

North said she is now boycotting Target over its DEI pullback. She said her disenchantment began earlier. She wanted less clutter in her life, and strolling the aisles, it was easy to get caught up in wanting things that she didn’t plan to buy.

“Especially around Christmas, it’s festive and you want to make everything cozy — but then you just look around and it’s just all this stuff that no one needs,” she said. “And I remember having this, I don’t know, sense of frustration with it.”

Walking back DEI and alienating loyal liberal customers

Target isn’t alone in turning away from DEI. A national pullback stretches from Big Tech to the Ivy League as part of a larger cultural shift championed by the White House. For the former Target fans BI spoke with, it was the last straw. CEO Brian Cornell addressed the backlash as one reason for the company’s sales dip in the first quarter of 2025, alongside declining consumer confidence and tariff uncertainty — headwinds that other retailers are also contending with.

Boycotts rarely move the needle, but in this case, Target “attracted a very different type of demographic — more educated, younger, more self-aware, and aware of the issues that are taking place within their community,” said Peggy Stover, a marketing professor at the University of Iowa. Brayden King, a Northwestern University professor of management, said the store’s ability to attract avid fans may be exactly what has set it up for a punishing backlash.

Target’s January policy change cited the planned end of external diversity surveys and three-year DEI goals. In a statement, a spokesperson said, “Target is absolutely dedicated to fostering inclusivity for everyone — our team members, our guests and our supply partners,” and cited continued support of Black-led businesses and organizations, HBCUs, and employee scholarships.

“Going forward, we’re committed to expanding opportunity by supporting small businesses, increasing access to education, and creating the best team to serve the more than 2,000 communities where Target operates,” the spokesperson said.

Kocher said the reversal seemed like a betrayal because the company had a reputation for being pro-diversity and employee-friendly.

“People saw themselves in Target — in the products, in the workforce, in the advertisements, these things that people thought that they belonged here and they thought that Target wanted them there,” Kocher said.

Target’s political stances have drawn ire from both sides of the political aisle; not too long ago, conservative-leaning activists were targeting the brand for its Pride collection.

Why some ex-Target lovers are going to Costco instead

Costco, another brand with a similar knack for building a loyal customer base, has naabbed market share and foot traffic from Target.

Foot traffic data from Placer.ai shows visits to Target are down 4.1% year-over-year. Comparatively, wholesale clubs like BJ’s, Sam’s, and Costco saw their visits increase. YouGov found that Target’s popularity plunged, dropping from roughly 70% as of January 1 to about 54% on April 2. Costco was the most popular big-box store among those surveyed.

The changing fortunes of Target, where splurges abound, to Costco, where shoppers economize by buying in bulk, could represent changing habits due to heightened economic uncertainty around fears that tariffs could reignite inflation and a downturn.

“When the economy gets tough, people just stop shopping as much as they did in the past, and they’re more likely to cut things that they see as luxuries, and that probably is affecting Target right now,” King said.

Cornell said on Target’s latest earnings call that the company has “many levers to use in mitigating the impact of tariffs, and price is the very last resort.”

Kandace Montgomery, 38, used to go to Target four to five times a week. If she was bored after work, she’d go to Target. If she needed food, she’d go to Target. If she needed anything for her house, she’d go to Target.

Montgomery hasn’t been back since January. She said saving money is one of the perks, even though she misses things like their seasonally themed toy birds or the Chip and Joanna Gaines collection.

“I’m not just going to the store on a random Tuesday afternoon and spending $300 because the Target gods told me I needed to,” she said. She’s trying to shop less and go to smaller businesses or local grocery stores when she needs to.

Many of the once-avid Target shoppers said that they’re not sure if anything could ever fully win them back; at the very least, their views on their favorite shopping mecca have irrevocably shifted.

“I think there would have to be a lot of change for me to go back,” Montgomery said; for her, that would ideally come in the form of turning around and going full force back into DEI.

“I really don’t know. That would be hard,” Montgomery said. “They put a bad taste in my mouth, and now I don’t know if I can trust them.”

Do you have a story to share about Target? Contact this reporter at jkaplan@businessinsider.com.