Target's Popularity Hits Rock Bottom as Boycott Hurts Brand

Target's popularity is at its lowest point since the metric first began being tracked, after facing a backlash over its LGBTQ+ Pride range, newly released figures show.

The brand is still among the top five most popular department stores in the U.S., according to research by pollster YouGov. However, in the latest quarter, it has slipped down the rankings and now sits below Costco and Dollar Tree.

Target's popularity in the second quarter of this year was 65 percent among 1,560 respondents nationwide—its lowest since it began being tracked in the third quarter of 2020. Target previously enjoyed highs of 71 percent during 2021. Now, 15 percent of respondents dislike the brand, while 19 percent were neutral toward it.

Newsweek approached Target via email for comment on Friday.

It comes after the retail chain was subject to calls for a boycott from conservatives who objected to items in its LGBTQ+ Pride range, which the retailer was forced to scale down following threats to staff.

Target was among a plethora of brands to face backlash over advocacy of the LGBTQ+ community of late. While experts have said such campaigns provide an opportunity for brands to appeal to consumers in new markets, critics have accused companies of alienating their traditional customer base.

The retailer stated in May that it would remove some items from the range that it said had been "at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior" following threats to staff. The items include "tuck-friendly" swimsuits for transgender individuals and some children's products. A Target spokesperson previously told Newsweek that these were pulled due to "threats impacting our team members' sense of safety and wellbeing while at work."

Target stores across the U.S. were subject to bomb threats over the controversy, while numerous LGBTQ+ organizations called on the brand to "speak out against anti-LGBTQ+ extremism."

Target Corp PAC [political action committee] donated a total of $249,900 to help Republicans get elected in 2022, according to OpenSecrets. Meanwhile, the retail chain donated only $174,500 to Democratic campaigns, meaning more than 58 percent of its donations went toward GOP members.

The YouGov research, conducted over a period of 90 days and updated quarterly, showed that Target is most popular among millennials, 73 percent of whom favored the brand, and lowest among baby boomers, of whom 58 percent favored the brand.

Women were 10 percent more likely to find the store appealing than men, with 70 percent of female respondents liking the brand to just 60 percent of male respondents.

Since late 2020, tracking data shows Target's popularity has wavered around 70 percent across the board, but this had dropped five points between April and June this year. In the first quarter of 2023—before the backlash—its popularity was 68 percent.

It is tied in terms of department-store popularity with T.J. Maxx and Sam's Club. In an overall ranking of U.S. brands, it sits at number 243, between True Value, a hardware store, and fast-food chain Burger King.

Following the backlash against its LGBTQ+ Pride range, the company faced a second wave of outrage from conservatives earlier this week. Right-wing author and radio host Mark Levin said that Target had told the publishers of his upcoming book that it would not stock it upon release over concerns that "certain customers might be offended by the title."

Figures including General Mike Flynn and Senator Ted Cruz leapt to the defense of The Democrat Party Hates America. Levin later told Fox News that Target had since reversed its decision.