Dominick Reuter/Insider
- Target is shrinking its Pride celebration this year following last year's backlash.
- On Friday, the company emailed members of the employee resource group for LGBTQ+ supporters.
- "As we all know, last year was challenging, and we've made some changes this year," the note said.
Target responded to media coverage in an email to LGBTQ+ employees after news broke that the retailer plans to shrink the number of stores carrying its Pride collection this year, according to a memo obtained by Business Insider.
On Friday, Target confirmed it will reduce the number of stores that carry its assortment of LGBTQ+ merchandise for Pride month in June.
The company said it will offer a collection online and certain stores "based on historical sales performance." The reduction, first reported earlier Friday by Bloomberg, is a sharp departure from prior years when Target featured Pride displays prominently at all of its stores across the US.
Shortly after Target released its public statement, the company's VP of Brand Marketing Carlos Saavedra emailed the Pride+ Business Council, which is Target's employee resource group for LGBTQ+ supporters.
In the note, obtained by Business Insider and reproduced in full below, Saavedra says teams across Target have been working on this year's plans "for months" and were preparing an internal preview of the campaign for May 14. Online Pride collections in prior years have launched as early as May 1.
"As we all know, last year was challenging, and we've made some changes this year based on guest insights and sales trends," Saavedra said. "Stores were chosen based on where we've historically seen the strongest sales demand."
Saavedra also noted the disruption caused by Friday morning's media attention: "This isn't the way we envisioned kicking off Pride, and we hoped you'd be one of the first audiences to hear about our plans."
A source on the council told BI that the employee group was previously much more involved in highlighting vendor partners for Pride, but that did not happen this year.
Read the email from Target to the LGBTQ+ employee group:
Pride+ community,
As you know, team members across Target have been working on our Pride 2024 plans for months. Ann, Jeff and I were looking forward to sharing an overview of all the ways we'll celebrate at our Pride+ meeting on May 14.
Unfortunately, the opportunity to give you a preview was interrupted by some external media coverage. Of course, this isn't the way we envisioned kicking off Pride, and we hoped you'd be one of the first audiences to hear about our plans. Still, we won't let this distract us from the intent behind this month - celebrating and supporting our amazing community.
While you may have already seen media coverage, there are a few points we'd like you to hear directly from us ahead of our meeting on May 14:
- Our Pride+ community has once again poured time and energy into a fantastic slate of events to help us celebrate, grow and connect. Thank you to each one of you who played a role. We're excited to share all the details on Tuesday!
- As we have for several years, Target will have a presence at local Pride events, including parades in Minneapolis, New York City and other local communities - reinforcing our commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community.
- We will once again offer a Pride assortment to help our guests celebrate. As we all know, last year was challenging, and we've made some changes this year based on guest insights and sales trends. That includes a more curated assortment that's rooted in celebration across adult apparel, home and food and beverage. The assortment will be available to everyone online and in select stores. These stores were chosen based on where we've historically seen the strongest sales demand.
Above all, please know our intention is to bring our culture of care to life for our LGBTQIA+ team members - not just during June, but year-round. We remain committed to this wonderful community, and we are so excited to celebrate Pride with you all.
As always, I'd like to end by expressing our gratitude to each of you. Thank you for all you do to make Target a caring, supportive and welcoming place. We look forward to seeing many of you on May 14.
Carlos, Ann and Jeff
If you work for Target and would like to share your perspective, please contact Dominick Reuter via email or text/call/Signal at 646-768-4750. Responses will be kept confidential, and Business Insider strongly recommends using a personal email and a non-work device when reaching out.