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submitted 1 year ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

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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[-] zeppo@lemmy.world 288 points 1 year ago

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'.

[-] ohlaph@lemmy.world 97 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

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'.

[-] Maajmaaj@lemmy.ca 35 points 1 year ago

20oz bottle of coke is $2.29. Used to be $1.29

[-] Bonehead@kbin.social 21 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Where I am, cooking oil is now $14.99 for a 3 liter jug and never goes on sale anymore. It used to be $5.99, and would frequently go on sale for $2.99. I haven't deep-fried anything in months. This isn't the way I expected to start eating healthier...

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[-] Witchfire@lemmy.world 87 points 1 year ago

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

[-] butterflyattack@lemmy.world 47 points 1 year ago

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

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[-] metaStatic@kbin.social 58 points 1 year ago

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.

[-] zeppo@lemmy.world 51 points 1 year ago

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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[-] ohlaph@lemmy.world 178 points 1 year ago

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

No shit.

[-] RvTV95XBeo@sh.itjust.works 48 points 1 year ago

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?

[-] ohlaph@lemmy.world 57 points 1 year ago

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

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[-] RvTV95XBeo@sh.itjust.works 117 points 1 year ago

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

-every MBA at Target

[-] Romanmir@lemmy.today 59 points 1 year ago

-every MBA everywhere.

Fixed that for you.

[-] danielton@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz 23 points 1 year ago

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

[-] CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world 100 points 1 year ago

They are finding the stone is running out of blood.

[-] bstix@feddit.dk 95 points 1 year ago

Shoppers are quiet quitting. Nobody wants to shop anymore

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[-] Th4tGuyII@kbin.social 91 points 1 year ago

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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[-] June@lemm.ee 74 points 1 year ago

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

[-] KneeTitts@lemmy.world 26 points 1 year ago

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.

[-] Smoogs@lemmy.world 25 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

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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[-] stopthatgirl7@kbin.social 59 points 1 year ago

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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[-] Fades@lemmy.world 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

[-] Zippit@lemmy.world 53 points 1 year ago

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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[-] Teon@kbin.social 47 points 1 year ago

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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[-] snekerpimp@lemmy.world 47 points 1 year ago

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?

[-] kubica@kbin.social 30 points 1 year ago

Something something no one wants to eat anymore.

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[-] ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works 46 points 1 year ago

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

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[-] BURN@lemmy.world 44 points 1 year ago

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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[-] Furbag@lemmy.world 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.

[-] cfi@lemmy.world 39 points 1 year ago

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.

[-] Got_Bent@lemmy.world 26 points 1 year ago

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

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[-] Jeffool@lemmy.world 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@sh.itjust.works 32 points 1 year ago

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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[-] jennwiththesea@lemmy.world 31 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

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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[-] BeautifulMind@lemmy.world 28 points 1 year ago

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

[-] dantheclamman@lemmy.world 28 points 1 year ago
[-] Yewb@lemmy.world 27 points 1 year ago

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

[-] xenoclast@lemmy.world 25 points 1 year ago

It's almost like they don't have money

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[-] reverendsteveii@lemm.ee 24 points 1 year ago

NOBODY WANTS TO BUY ANYMORE

[-] Smoogs@lemmy.world 21 points 1 year ago

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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[-] circuitfarmer 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.

[-] xc2215x@lemmy.world 21 points 1 year ago

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

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surprisedpikachu.jpg

I assume this is the same CEO that folded like a wet noodle as soon as the bigots started complaining about having Pride merchandise in the store last summer.

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this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2023
526 points (98.3% liked)

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