Here's why Target removed Pride

By James Rogers

Target has offered Pride-related products for more than a decade

Target Corp. had to quickly make changes to protect its employees amid the intense anti-LGBTQ backlash the company faced earlier this year, according to the company's CEO Brian Cornell.

Speaking during a conference call to discuss Target's (TGT)second-quarter results, Cornell discussed the company's controversial decision to remove Pride-themed products from some stores amid the backlash. Many store members, he said, faced a "negative guest reaction" to the company's Pride assortment.

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The CEO explained that Target has offered Pride-related products for more than a decade. "However, after the launch of the assortment this year, members of our team began experiencing threats and aggressive actions that affected their sense of safety and well-being while at work," Cornell said. "I want to make it clear. We denounce violence and hate of all kinds and the safety of our team and our guests is our top priority."

So, to protect employees, Target "quickly made changes" including removing items at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior, Cornell said. "Pride is one of many heritage moments that are important to our guests and our team, and we'll continue to support these moments in the future," he added.

Related: Target's stock jumps 11% premarket as earnings beat offsets revenue miss and lowered guidance

As the Pride collection row unfolded, Target faced criticism from across the political spectrum, as well as from some of its own workers California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, tweeted that Target CEO Brian Cornell was "selling out the LGBTQ+ community to extremists." Conservative Political Action Coalition chair Matt Schlapp slammed Target's "apparent embrace of radical gender ideology" in a letter to Cornell.

"As we navigate an ever-changing operating and social environment, we're committed to staying close to our guests and their expectations of Target," Cornell said. "Specific to Pride and heritage month, we're focused on building assortments that are celebratory and joyous with wide-ranging relevance." The company, he added, is "being mindful" of timing, placement and presentation, and "reconsidering the mix" of own brands, national brands and external partners within the assortments.

Related:'Target doesn't have a spine': Workers slam retailer's decision to pull LGBTQ Pride-themed products amid backlash

Speaking during the conference call, Target CFO Michael Fiddelke outlined a number of factors that affected the company's top-line performance during the second quarter. These included industry-wide softness in discretionary categories and lower inflation in food, beverages and essentials. "Furthermore, traffic and top line trends were affected by the reaction to our pride assortment which launched in the middle of May," he added. "While each of these factors played a role in the quarter it's not possible to reliably quantify the separate impact of each one."

Target's stock rose 3.9% Wednesday, outpacing the S&P 500 index's SPX gain of 0.2%.

-James Rogers

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08-16-23 1142ET