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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Retailers respond to weekend protests...focus their statements on support for the protestors' cause |
| 2020-06-03 |
| [No sympathy for them then.] [RetailDive] Over the weekend, several retail chains nationwide sustained damage during protests, some peaceful, some violent over police killings of Black Americans.​ Among the locations caught in the melees was the Lake Street Target store in Minneapolis near where George Floyd died after a policeman held his knee on his neck for over eight minutes.​ The killing of Floyd sparked protests across the U.S. over the last week. On Sunday, the mass merchant said its goal was to reopen the store "in late 2020." Target also closed another Minneapolis location, along with stores in Oakland, California, Atlanta, Chicago and Philadelphia "until further notice." Employees of these stores will be paid at elevated COVID-19 wages for up to 14 days for their scheduled shifts and can work at nearby stores, the company said in a statement. Nordstrom closed all of its stores Sunday after stores, including one at the Grove shopping center in Los Angeles and its Seattle flagship, were damaged. The further closures come as the department store was preparing to reopen several full-line and off-price Rack locations as pandemic-related restrictions ease. But both retailers joined Nike and others in keeping their focus on the reasons for the protest, rather than on the losses at stores. "We are a community in pain," CEO Brian Cornell wrote in a separate statement posted to the Target site. "That pain is not unique to the Twin Cities — it extends across America. The murder of George Floyd has unleashed the pent-up pain of years, as have the killings of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. We say their names and hold a too-long list of others in our hearts. As a Target team, we’ve huddled, we’ve consoled, we’ve witnessed horrific scenes similar to what’s playing out now and wept that not enough is changing. And as a team we’ve vowed to face pain with purpose." (Emphasis Cornell's.) In an open letter to employees posted publicly on the Nordstrom site, CEO Erik Nordstrom and President and Chief Brand Officer Pete Nordstrom, similarly mentioned those three recent victims by name and said in a statement that their "senseless deaths ... and too many others reflect the deeply ingrained racial prejudice and injustice that still exists in our communities today." "It is stirring many emotions, which it should," they said. "The unnecessary and unjust killing of anyone must not be accepted. The issue of race and the experiences of too many people of color cannot be ignored." Shawn Grain Carter, professor of fashion business management at the Fashion Institute of Technology, described the activism as a watershed moment for fashion and retail, and a time when these businesses must look to their core values rather than to marketing or public relations goals. "Nike, Target, Nordstrom, I applaud them — and the rest, they need to get with the program," she told Retail Dive by phone. "They are leading by example, as opposed to people who like to advise everyone to be like Switzerland and stay neutral in the war. That’s no longer acceptable and that’s what the brands are learning the hard way." |
| Posted by:Clem |
| #11 Did the head refuse salary for the rest of 2020? |
| Posted by: Klem Kadiddlehopper 2020-06-03 15:29 |
| #10 Some do, dear Skidmark, and some read. Besides, I am given so much new to read every day here at Rantburg, I am driven to give a little back. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2020-06-03 14:34 |
| #9 You, my ladyfriend, are well read. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2020-06-03 13:36 |
| #8 Here’s Why Looters Chose Target Stores As Focus Of Rage [HotAir] Adweek has an interesting piece on why Target is being, well, targeted by the anarchists and thieves who are looting stores in the chain. It’s not a random choice. A young woman aired grievances via a Twitter thread explaining the corporation’s history of supporting and funding local police. Minneapolis is the epicenter of Target branding. Target’s Bull Terrier mascot is seen when the Twins make a home run at Target Field. Target Center is the home of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx. Target also has a history of supporting the Minneapolis Police Department. That makes the corporation an enemy in the eyes of the rioters. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2020-06-03 13:01 |
| #7 /\ Nordstrom is fair game. They don't accept SNAP. Walmart & Target.... off-limits. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-06-03 11:48 |
| #6 So revenue losing big brick&mortar stores (Target...?) won't rebuild and will deduct the casualty loss damages then sell off the real estate for 10x what it cost them years ago. Neiman Marcus is cussing their (too early) bankruptcy process. Where are all the burned Walmarts? |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2020-06-03 11:06 |
| #5 1800 years before Marx, the Romans understood the need for proscription of the Rich Assholes. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2020-06-03 07:48 |
| #4 I wanna see the property of all the communist corporations seized and given to actual non-rioting poor people, of which, thanks to the communists corporations, we now have plenty of on the Gulf Coast. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2020-06-03 07:48 |
| #3 Judenrat. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2020-06-03 07:04 |
| #2 Please burn us out last Danegeld |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2020-06-03 07:01 |
| #1 [sings, voice of Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof] daa-daa deeee-da daa-daa deeee-da daa-daa deeee-da, da da dee-dee da Submissionnnnn ... Submission! SubMISSIONNNNN! SUBMISSION!! |
| Posted by: Lex 2020-06-03 00:53 |