The sales and profit say that he is killing it in the short term. Short term thinking almost always ends in disaster. Why Target is continuing to get away with this when the stores look like utter shit, I'm not entirely sure but I suspect it's still largely reputation among other things such as that the clothing is better than Wal-Mart and the home goods are as well, usually anyways. Because the service is just a bad and the stores look worse.
You're acting as if I don't know the retail landscape is changing. More than retail, the labor market is changing and our lives are changing at extremely rapid paces. Of course retail is changing, but that doesn't mean Target is taking the correct path. He's just bleeding it until he's out. There is no long term vision and he doesn't give a fuck. No long term vision that will differentiate Target from other retailers, and certainly nothing like what differentiated Target previously and made it successful in the first place.
They're going to do what? Compete with Amazon at trying to be Amazon? We'll see how that goes. Maybe they put another spin on it and I end up being wrong. Time tells all.
None of that changes the fact that their primary sales driver is still in person... in stores... and the stores look like utter HORSE SHIT. The zone legitimately looks worse than Wal-Mart, which is unfuckingvelievable and I would have never guessed it would ever go that way. I am curious if there is concrete data or at the very least strong estimates on how much of those digital sales would go elsewhere if allowing guests to be lazy as fuck wasn't a thing.
They competed previously and carved out a space against corps like Wal-Mart not by trying to be Wal-Mart, but by being Target. A lot of the early decisions Cornell made were trying to turn Target into Wal-Mart. And you can still see those decisions to this day.
You're just going to keep reverting back to "sales and profit" "sales and profit" "sales and profit" as if the primary drivers for sales for him have not been inflation and the primary profit driver has not been payroll slashing. You do realize that a lot of these companies are all experiencing record profits, right? If you want to make a sound argument, impress me and do the math. I'm not going to do it. Compare the profitability of Target year by year, adjusting for inflation, to its main competitors. Then we'll talk further about how good he's doing with profit and perhaps get into further nitty gritty details, the nuance and other undiscussed variables.
Also, other than your first statement which just lines up with what I said his thinking was(mostly short term), you're telling me a bunch of bullshit that I never argued with. I never said they cared about me and I never said corporations shouldn't try to make money or that businesses shouldn't. Of course they should, that's the whole fucking point. But what happens, as it always does, ok... is that these companies do something that is really fucking great, they corner a large section of the market, the founder or visionary that drove the success dies or retires and some asshole in a suit comes along and bleeds it dry. Makes a ton of money for shareholders, inflicts a shit ton of emotional pain on employees and society at large because they drove a bunch of people out of business.
Of course businesses exist to make money... the question is... do you honestly believe in your heart of hearts that Cornell has steered the ship in such a way that has maximized the long term potential of the company? Clearly, you do. That's because you are fucking clueless.
I don't disagree with anything you're saying (except the clueless part). Share held organizations rarely make decisions for long-term growth. This is a well demonstrated truth, they make decisions to make shareholders money. The ever-increasing march for profit. Reduce cost, increase productivity. Do more with less. This is the battle-cry of the retail industry, it has been for many years. Shareholders are very short-sighted.
For what it's worth, Targets YoY growth @ April 22' was
4.03%, Wal-Mart was at
2.34%. Though this could be a reflection of Target positioning itself better during the pandemic than Wal-Mart. Inflation is irrelevant because both companies exist in the same inflated market.
Do I believe Cornell has steered the ship to maximize long term potential? Yes and no.
Yes - Because the decisions he made whether through foresight or luck positioned Target to do very well during the pandemic. Which probably let to a much better position than it otherwise would have been. The in-store experience is just not the future for most people. In an economy with a vanishing middle class, people want quick and they want cheap. Gone are the days where they want bright and clean. In this way he has made some strategic decisions that promote long term growth.
But also no. Because a large portion of the vertically integrated supply (mainly softlines and some home) is driven by the in-store shopping experience. I have not worked at Target in some time, but I would be interested to see a breakdown of profit percentage by category. Softlines I suspect would still occupy a healthy percentage of that. And the state of stores definitely does play a large factor in this.
It remains to be seen (at least to me) how this will play out from a longevity standpoint. In my mind, one of two things happens:
- They choose to reduce labor force to maintain labor costs. Amazon and Wal-Mart use their supply-chain dominance to strangle Target. Target dumps anything perishable, pivots completely to SFS/Curbside, and goes all-in on the Cornell vision of an Amazon 2.0. Reduced salesfloor footprint, with stores becoming essentially mini DC hubs and chink away at competitors by instituting last-leg delivery.
- A new CEO comes in and they choose to re-invest in stores. Increase labor force and increased labor cost. Lower profits but improved store experience, focused mainly on vertically integrated product, such as softlines and owned brands.
My gut tells me number one is going to be what happens.
One thing I do know for sure. 5 years from now we will still be here complaining about the good-ole' days while Target profits disgusting amounts of money and reaps the fruits of our labor as workers, and our complacency as consumers.
The real answer is to just leave retail. Let it all burn.
