this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2023
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Target CEO Brian Cornell says shoppers are pulling back, even on groceries, as they feel stressed about their budgets.

In an interview with CNBC’s Becky Quick that aired Thursday morning, he emphasized that the retailer has posted seven consecutive quarters of declining sales of discretionary items, such as apparel and toys, in terms of both dollars and units.

“But even in food and beverage categories, over the last few quarters, the units, the number of items they’re buying, has been declining,” he said in the interview.

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[–] [email protected] 288 points 1 year ago (11 children)

No shit. Groceries have gone up 40% in the past 1-2 years for no real reason while wages have not and things like housing are going up too. Amazing that people would be buying less 'units'.

[–] [email protected] 97 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

No doubt. I'm starting to eat healthier because a bag of Doritos is like $5 now when I used to buy it for $2.50-3.00. That's just one example, but across my snacking 'units', everything is outrageous.

I'm eating less and healthier 'units'.

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[–] [email protected] 87 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Gone up 40% in cost and down 20% in quantity

[–] [email protected] 47 points 1 year ago (2 children)

And in quality. Seems like a lot of food items are using cheaper ingredients.

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[–] [email protected] 58 points 1 year ago (2 children)

no real reason

because if wages fell 40% there would be fucking riots. your masters are robbing you with the most basic slight of hand and it's working.

[–] [email protected] 51 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Sure, I noticed that part. Inflation is always a scam, built into the monetary system, and while manufacturers/distributors are paying more for their materials and energy also, the rest is price gouging. It's 'working' because people have no choice but to you know, eat food.

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[–] [email protected] 178 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Hmmm. We raised the prices on EVERYTHING and shoppers aren't buying as much.

No shit.

[–] RvTV95XBeo 54 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If shoppers are buying less they should just try increasing the price. More revenue per sale you don't even need those lousy shoppers who left! What could go wrong?

[–] [email protected] 57 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I mean, what does a banana even cost, $10?

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[–] RvTV95XBeo 131 points 1 year ago (1 children)

"We tried raising prices to meet our margin targets, and now we're all out of ideas"

-every MBA at Target

[–] [email protected] 59 points 1 year ago (1 children)

-every MBA everywhere.

Fixed that for you.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago

"We'll also use union actors to tell our team members why unions are bad."

[–] [email protected] 100 points 1 year ago

They are finding the stone is running out of blood.

[–] [email protected] 95 points 1 year ago (8 children)

Shoppers are quiet quitting. Nobody wants to shop anymore

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[–] [email protected] 91 points 1 year ago (16 children)

Damn who could've predicted that the price of even basic groceries skyrocketing up while wages stay stagnant (again) would discourage people from buying more things. It's almost like they don't have the money ...

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[–] [email protected] 74 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Is it really ‘pulling back’ when consumers are priced out of those things?

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago (8 children)

Who is buying anything at this point, I mean seriously? The only thing my wife and I buy now is food, and we hunt, literally hunt for the lowest possible prices on any item before we buy anything. These people who spend 1000 dollars on a concert or 500 dollars for running shoes actually blow my mind.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

I thought you literally hunt meant you and your wife are out there with rifles taking down a deer. Or somebody else’s chicken

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[–] [email protected] 59 points 1 year ago (22 children)

It’s almost like people don’t have enough money to buy things when wages are stagnating and prices are going up. Weird.

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[–] [email protected] 58 points 1 year ago

In a society that deletes the middle class, prioritizes the oligopoly in which three fucking people own more than the bottom 50% (in 2017, before the great covid wealth transfer), and every goddamn product (necessity or no) is overpriced to fuck because a handful of companies owns the majority of the "competitors".....

it's almost like people CAN'T AFFORD to not "pull back" on even groceries. Fuck capitalism, fuck the oligopoly, fuck this fucked planet. Humanity is a cancer

[–] [email protected] 53 points 1 year ago (11 children)

I live in a country where wages are linked to a central index.

The index measures how expensive life is becoming. If the prices of products and services rise, the index rises accordingly. If the figure exceeds the so-called central index, benefits and wages will automatically increase.

So, this happened in October again and next month I'll have an increase of 2% in wages.

It's more complicated than that, but most countries should use this to protect at the very least handicapped, sick or unemployed people who live on benefits.

It's not much, but it helps in a way.

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[–] [email protected] 47 points 1 year ago (11 children)

So they had their CEO come on and complain that the reason “line go down” is “people no buy” so investors won’t think it’s management’s fault?

[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 year ago

Something something no one wants to eat anymore.

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[–] [email protected] 47 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Maybe the rich people could BUY MORE UNITS. Since the rest of us normal people don't have that kind of money.

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[–] ZombiFrancis 46 points 1 year ago (2 children)

"People with only $100 to spend are still only spending $100 on things! And we raised prices and everything!"

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[–] [email protected] 43 points 1 year ago (9 children)

People just aren’t buying from Target

Among my peers (early/mid 20s to early 30s) everyone explicitly avoids grocery shopping at target because it’s so much more expensive than other big box retailers. Target is for the occasional home decor items or household items, but very rarely food in my experience.

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[–] [email protected] 43 points 1 year ago

When you wring the middle class for every spare cent they have, eventually money is going to stop falling out no matter how hard you twist them.

[–] [email protected] 39 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I stopped going when they replaced 90% of the cashiers with self-checkout and the lines tripled in size.

There were times where I spent more time in line than I did shopping there.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Unexpected item in bagging area. Please ask for assistance from the one employee overseeing all thirty six self checkout stations.

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[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I forgot where I saw someone else suggest it... But if you really want to win over shoppers this Black Friday? Don't run a week of discounted TVs. Discount groceries.

[–] spaghettiwestern 32 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Target's grocery prices are really high and their selection is mediocre. I can go to different stores and save 20%+ on many items.

Maybe shoppers are just pulling back on groceries at Target.

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[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Don't they do this every year? "Oh, no, we're going to do soooooo badly this holiday season!!1!1!" Only to have record profits, yet again. Set market expectations low then ✨✨dazzle✨✨ them. 🙄 Meanwhile we're all paying more for lower quality plastic.

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago

Translation: they're buying their shit elsewhere because Target sucks and is overpriced

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago

Good thing they took some food prices out of the inflation calculation, problem solved pack it up boys.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 year ago (4 children)

It's almost like they don't have money

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

NOBODY WANTS TO BUY ANYMORE

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I see the capitalists are meeting their own consequences of greed now. Yeah what did they think taking away all the jobs and giving it to computers thereby hoarding all the money so no one has any to shop with would result in? Apparently spendable money is as finite as the people on the planet. Who would have thought?

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago

Most people have an ever dwindling supply of money, while those at the top still believe that the only success metric is endless growth. These two experiences are incompatible.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Fuck Brian Cornell. He's overpaid and does a shit job.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Well yeah, he's a CEO of a major corporation.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (1 children)

People have less money so they will spend less. Nothing different than that.

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