10 Comments
тна Return to thread

Judd this is such good work and I thank you for it. Without investigative reporting corporate America would continue undeterred. Corporations, now that they are people (note sarcasm) , must adhere to the ethical standards that a civil society demands.

Expand full comment

What about standards of being a citizen?

Expand full comment

WhatтАЩs your point, David? If TargetтАЩs small format stores arenтАЩt working, why donтАЩt they just say so rather than constructing this alternative reason?

Expand full comment

Hmmm. Performance affecting share price and exec compensation? IsnтАЩt it always about the money?

Expand full comment

Yes, I noticed that "to draw attention away from margin headwinds in the form of higher promotions and weaker inventory management in recent quarters."!

William Blair was able to "target" precisely much of the real truth here.

Expand full comment

Perhaps to avoid accusations of racism? With all the virtue signaling and accusations thrown like so much feces at the zoo, simple answers are seen as a conspiracy.

Expand full comment

So David, using a racist trope to avoid being falsely accused of racism is okay?

Expand full comment

So, closing a store because тАЬcrimeтАЭiis less racist than saying you made a bad business decision?

Expand full comment

That makes no sense. It also contradicts common sense and known facts. If the retail association has a problem it wants solved, it produces the data to support its position. Race does not need to enter the equation.

Instead:

-- I believe it was a Target manager in previous articles who blamed lack of profitability on corporate practices like sending the same merchandise in the same quantities to all stores (regardless of store size etc). This in turn led to a repeated cycle of deeply discounting for large quantities of unsold product to make room for more.

-- Stores in areas with lower crime rates had fewer reported thefts were closed while others remained open. The stores that closed happened to be newer & according to customers were often in inconvenient locations or difficult to find. This indicates poor planning or timing, lack of store visibility or foot traffic and other factors related to corporate decisions.

-- Walmart closed many of its newish тАЬNeighborhood MarketsтАЭ which are grocery oriented. The behavior of тАЬcitizensтАЭ has nothing to do with their miscalculations. Market saturation in areas where there is disposable income caused other groceries to also close. A Neighborhood Market near us closed in a community that would shop at Sams if they chose to buy groceries in a glorified warehouse. Walmart is notorious for moving into an area, becoming an тАШanchorтАЩ in small shopping centers and then moving on leaving a gaping hole. It is their business model. Walmart typically blames тАШunderperformingтАЩ and shifts in the retail market.

Expand full comment

Why would "they" want to "Perhaps to avoid accusations of racism?"

What would motivate you to say that David? Got something "else" you want to say? It's an open forum. Go ahead. Say it. Say what's really on your mind.

Expand full comment