Target CEO: Climate Change — not Bathroom Policy — Responsible for Sales Plummet

Following Target’s April 19 announcement that customers and employees could now use the restroom or fitting room of their choice, Target has faced a maelstrom of criticism and controversy.  A pledge to boycott the retail giant has now reached over 1.25 million signatures.

But, Target CEO Brian Cornell claims that it’s actually the weather that has caused the company’s sales to drop, not its transgender bathroom controversy.

In a recent Wall Street Journal interview, Target CEO Brian Cornell pegged the downturn in the company’s fortunes to the cold weather as opposed to anything the company itself is doing or not doing.

“It’s been a very wet and cold start to the year and it’s reflected in our sales,” Cornell told the paper. “We haven’t seen anything from a structural standpoint that gives us pause.”

In other words, the weather is responsible for the downturn, not Target’s “structural” transgender bathroom policy.

Indeed, a month after the initial announcement, the Target CEO came out to double down on the transgender agenda, so it appears the company is digging in heels instead of looking for ways at appeal to customers.

Still, Cornell’s weather assessment does not quite tally with other reports stating Target has taken a major hit since it announced its transgender policy.

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A recent Business Insider article noted that Target’s reputation has tumbled six points among consumers in the last several months. In the months prior to the bathroom policy announcement, 42 percent of consumers said they would shop at the department store chain. But in the month following the bathroom policy announcement, the number dropped to 36 percent.

The reports also found that consumer perception of the Target brand is at its lowest in two years.

With a number of other companies following Target’s lead on transgender bathroom policies, consumers who wish to boycott any retailer with such policies may soon be left without a place to shop.  Perhaps the safest bet would be strictly online retailers such as Amazon whose new delivery drones don’t need restrooms.

Source: Breitbart