The former target exec detects a “one item” that has sparked a consumer firestorm

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By Augustin Hayes, Fox News

June 4, 2023 | 10:02 a.m

Target has seen its market value plummet as the retail giant faces a consumer storm over display of pride items in stores across the country.

This controversy follows a boycott against Bud Light over their decision to market products with social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

Former Target vice president Gerald Storch joined “Fox & Friends Weekend” and revealed the one item that “made the difference” against the competition and sparked the backlash.

He explained that many retailers carry pride merchandise “You know, the plates that have different colors on them. Fine. You show the rainbow, you know, the gingerbread house, whatever you are, that’s all you know. Who cares? Everyone carries that stuff.” .

Storch targeted the one item of store pride that set it apart from its competitors and caught the consumer by storm.

“I’ve never seen a case where one item, the pleated swimsuit, really made the difference from the competition. This is where the big mistake is [was] “Made,” said the former Target CEO.

The former CEO shared an example of how he handled the controversy with Babies “R” Us.

“We ran a contest where the first baby of the year would get $20,000. You know, people were in my arms because guess what, the first baby of the year born to an undocumented immigrant who had no tax ID or anything, and people were like, ‘Oh my God, you can’t give for them. You have to give it to them. Find out the way. He continued, “You know what we did, we gave it to two kids and put out a huge press release. We love all kids.”

“At the end of the day, if you cuddle and show it to people and you know, I hear you every morning, you know that too. That’s how you get the problem, is you have to treat it as a real problem and show people love and it works.”

“Now to get out of the way, you have to show love. I know that sounds kind of funny, but, you know, tolerance and love, that’s part of America and that’s what you have to do.”

Storch noted that Target has also suffered from economic problems.

“Target stock has certainly underperformed 11% year-to-date. So that’s not good, and certainly, this boycott of the whole issue here doesn’t help. And business here.

The company’s market capitalization has been declining since mid-May with a drop of more than $12 billion.

“Target’s stock drop – it actually started on May 18th.” He explained, “This is the day Walmart reported a seven percent increase in comp store sales the day before. Target reported flat sales, flat year at Target, up seven at Walmart. There’s no way that comparison looks good.” .

“The consumer is very stressed, very stressed because of the environment, the inflation, and Target is known as the high-end discounter. So it’s not a good idea to be the high-end discounter at a time when the consumer doesn’t have a lot of money to spend. So they migrate more to Wal-Mart, and that’s a big problem.” “.

“While there’s no doubt that the boycott is part of the problem, if you read the reports about Target during this period and the analysts keep in mind what investors are, who are buying things about the stock or maybe in this case selling picks the amount of shares. They’re more interested in it.” basic business issues.

Storch noted that Target investors are watching “very carefully” and want to know the impact on sales.

“You know, they are [Target] He definitely didn’t handle this well, either getting in or trying to deal with him on the way. But I think over time, it won’t be a big deal for them,” he said.