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Target responded to media reports in an email to LGBTQ+ employees after news broke that it planned to reduce the number of stores carrying its Pride collection this year, according to a memo obtained by Business Insider.
Target announced Friday that it will reduce the number of stores carrying its LGBTQ+ products in preparation for Pride Month in June.
company Said The collection will be available online and in select stores “based on past sales performance.”first reduce report The report, reported by Bloomberg on Friday, is a big departure from years ago, when Target featured prominent Pride displays in all of its stores across the United States.
Shortly after Target issued its official statement, Carlos Saavedra, the company’s vice president of brand marketing, sent an email to the Pride+ Business Council, Target’s employee resource group for LGBTQ+ supporters.
In a memo obtained by Business Insider and reprinted in full below, Saavedra said teams across Target have been working on this year’s plans “for months” and have internal previews of the campaign leading up to May 14th. He said he was preparing. It will be released as early as May 1st.
“As we all know, last year was a difficult year, and we made several changes this year based on guest insights and sales trends,” Saavedra said. “Store locations were selected based on locations where sales demand has historically been strongest.”
Saavedra also addressed the confusion caused by Friday morning’s media attention, saying, “This is not how we imagined Pride to start. And you’ll be the first to hear about our plans.” I was hoping that you would be one of the viewers.”
Council officials told BI that the employee group had previously been more actively involved in highlighting Pride’s vendor partners, but that was not the case this year.
Read Target’s email to LGBTQ+ employee groups.
pride + community,
As you know, Target team members have been working on Pride 2024 planning for several months. Ann, Jeff, and I were looking forward to sharing an overview of all the ways to celebrate at our Pride+ meeting on May 14th.
Unfortunately, the opportunity to preview was interrupted by some outside media coverage. Of course, this isn’t how Pride started like we imagined. And we hope you will be one of the first viewers to hear about our plans. However, we cannot let this distract us from this month’s intention to celebrate and support our amazing community.
You may have already seen the media coverage, but there are a few things we would like to hear directly from you ahead of the May 14th meeting.
- Our Pride+ community has once again dedicated their time and energy to a series of amazing events to help us celebrate, grow, and connect. Thank you to everyone who played their part. We look forward to sharing all the details on Tuesday.
- As in recent years, Target will strengthen its commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community by participating in local Pride events, including parades in Minneapolis, New York City, and other local communities.
- We are once again offering Pride Assortments to help our guests celebrate. As you know, last year was a difficult year, but we made some changes this year based on guest insights and sales trends. This includes a more curated assortment rooted in celebration across adult apparel, homewares, food and beverages. This assortment will be available to everyone online and in select stores. These stores were selected based on the stores that have historically had the highest sales demand.
Above all, please know that our intention is to enable a culture of care for our LGBTQIA+ team members, not just in June, but all year round. We remain committed to this wonderful community and look forward to celebrating Pride with you.
As always, I would like to end by expressing my gratitude to everyone. Thank you for your efforts in making Target a caring, supportive, and welcoming place. We look forward to seeing many of you on May 14th.
Carlos, Anne and Jeff
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