Former Target Vice Chairman Explains The Company's 'Big Mistake', Says One Item Changed It All

A former Target vice chairman weighed in on what made the recent controversy over the national retailer ‘Pride’ line different from any other times the company had made similar moves, calling the recent line a “big mistake.”

Target continues to nose-dive in value following the massive nationwide boycott of the retailer over its LGBTQ-themed apparel line. The company has witnessed over $13 billion loss in market value and the stock being downgraded from its previous position, per the DC Enquirer. 

Gerald Storch, the former Target Vice Chairman, appeared on ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ to discuss the recent boycott and what “made the difference” from other companies who have taken similar moves as the retail giant. 

Storch noted how many different retailers carry pride-related items, saying, "You know, the plates that had different colors in it. Fine. You show the rainbow, you know, a gingerbread house, whatever you are, that's all you know. Who cares? Everybody carries that stuff."

"I've never seen a case where one item, that tuck swimsuit, that's really what made the difference versus the competitors. That's where the big mistake [was] made," the former Target vice chairman added, noting the massive difference that the single item made. 

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Storch also spoke of the notable financial trouble that the American retailer has been facing so far. 

"Target stock has certainly been performing poorly off 11% year to date. So that's not good, and certainly, this boycott of the whole issue here isn't helping. It's very distracting to have that going on in the business. But there are more fundamental concerns with that, with the environment, with the consumer, and with the business here," he laid out. 

"Target's decline in stock, -- actually began on May 18th." Storch explained. "That's the day Walmart reported seven percent gain in comp store sales on the prior day. Target had reported flat sales, year flat at Target, up seven at Walmart. There's no way that comparison looks good." 

"The consumer is feeling very stressed, very stressed by the environment, by inflation, and Target is known as the upscale discounter," he continued. "So it's not good to be the upscale discounter at a time when the consumer doesn't have a lot of money to spend. So they're migrating more to Wal-Mart, and that's a huge problem."

Storch did explain that “there’s no doubt the boycott is part of the problem,” but added that the numerous other factors weighing against the higher-end store have caused numerous issues. The former executive also believed that executives at Target are watching the situation “very, very carefully.”

"You know, they [Target] certainly didn't handle this well, either going in or trying to deal with it on the way out. But I think over time, this is not going to be a big issue for them," he finished.

It’s clear that the situation with Target and Bud Light is not like situations we’ve seen before. The people at Target may be hoping that this will go away soon, but with no real apology for what they pushed, they certainly don’t deserve to be let off so easily.