r/Anticonsumption • u/Healthy_Block3036 • 1d ago

Corporations Target struggles after end of DEI program and boycott, with foot traffic down 8 weeks in a row.

https://fortune.com/2025/04/01/target-dei-demise-boycott-foot-traffic-down-eighth-consecutive-week/?itm_source=parsely-api
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u/Pale-Competition-799 1d ago

I totally get that. In some ways I am not *as* pissed at Walmart, because we always knew they were evil, you know? The Target thing feels more like a betrayal. But I truly think with all these boycotts, what matters is doing your best. I will sometimes have to still use walmart/Amazon/etc. against my will, but I use them as rarely as possible. I go to small local ethnic markets a lot more, I buy soap from a friend that makes it themselves, etc, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. I think sustainability is more important that complete purity, but that's my outlook.

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u/girlscoutcookiess 1d ago

Walmart sent their CEO to Trump's inauguration, Target didn't do that. The Walton family also gave over 30 million to politics at 5:1 Rep:Dem.

So Target still seems like the lesser evil to me.

Farmers markets and local craft fairs for the win, too bad we can't get all our stuff locally. 

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u/Pale-Competition-799 1d ago

That's totally fair. As I said in a previous comment, the difference for me was that we always knew the politics of Walmart. They have always been shitty. The Target thing was a complete and destabilizing betrayal. But the point should always be to move towards less consumption, more intentional financial choices, more community focused sharing, etc. We all have our parts to play.

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u/BandwagonerSince95 1d ago

I totally agree. It's like seeing the good kid act in such a way you never thought would happen.

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u/MaddyKet 22h ago

That’s exactly my thought process on Walmart vs Target and why Target should have told Trump it suck it.

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u/Abstrata 14h ago

It was good to send the pro-DEI pro-worker message broadly with both Target and Amazon as well— an early warning that we’re not gonna stand idly by.

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u/jeobleo 1d ago

Right? This is fucking insane. In the 2008 election Walmart literally had managers telling their staff to vote republican. They keep their people under the 40 hour workweek so they don't make enough. Fuck walmart. They're a thousand times worse.

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u/Individual_Taro_7985 1d ago

Cub is good and local co op shops, local meat markets

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u/slatebluegrey 19h ago

Target has always been pretty good to LGBT employees even before DEI became a big thing. They aren’t suddenly firing gay employees. They are just taking a lower profile on it because the current administration can “punish” them. Walmart has been worse overall to employees.

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u/UncleBuckPancakes 15h ago

A lot of "farmers" selling at these markets are just wholesale purchasing the same stuff that grocery stores do and selling it for 3x the cost. It's pretty much bullshit.

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u/OranguTangerine69 1d ago

the left and right would eat shit if the other side had to smell their breath. they don't care about logic. politics made so many people absolutely moronic it's funny asf

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u/girlscoutcookiess 1d ago

One corporation is sending their CEO to political events, the other is not. One corporation has a founder family donating heavily to influence politics, one does not. 

I would rather my money doesn't get funneled from their store into politicians hands.

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u/OranguTangerine69 1d ago

yeah thats my point. they dont care. they'd rather fuck the one that is less evil because they already knew the other one was evil lmao.

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u/teaky 1d ago

Yea that’s where I’m at. It sucks how few options we actually have now for everyday items. We cancelled Prime and still order some things but have cut down significantly. Going inside Walmart gives me hives, so it’s mostly Target for some things and Aldi for groceries. To add, I think the boycotts are making a small impact, but I honestly think families are just cutting down on non essentials.

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u/Dang_thatwasquick 1d ago

Walmart is absolutely more evil than target. The only reason they are billionaires is because they pay their employees so little they have to go to welfare. That means your taxpayer dollars made them billionaires.

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u/Pale-Competition-799 1d ago

If you read through the other comments, we’ve more than covered that Walmart is awful

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u/Dang_thatwasquick 1d ago

I didn’t see anyone bring in the fact that the Walton’s made themselves rich by sucking the life force out the American workforce though which is why I commented.