Target has taken a hit for dismantling their DEI program. Traffic in their stores is reportedly down, including my local store. But association is not causation. Whenever I go to Costco it is mobbed, with a DEI program preserved despite governmental pressure. But they are two very different consumer experiences. Both stores seem to have people of similar ethnic distribution as employees visible to shoppers. And the apparent diversity of the people shopping at each place does not seem much different, though Costco shoppers are drawn to items of larger price tag and larger quantities, while Target has more selection. Costco employees are harder to find but always helpful once located. Target employees are around but amateur kids from HS trying to meet car insurance premiums. Mostly not helpful to me. Has nothing to do with popular or unpopular sociopolitical stances and everything to do with the priorities that the executive who make key decisions place on their shoppers' experiences.
I have two staples where Target offers the best price nearly always. Each supply lasts about two weeks, essentially forcing me to the store about ten times a year. I go to the shelves, both in the pharmacy department, and carry the items to the self-scanner. I rarely leave the pharmacy department. There have been times when it seemed convenient to get other things. I needed laundry soap. My supermarket undercuts the price big time for the premium brand and significantly for the secondary brands and house brand. I wanted to get some clothing for an upcoming trip. Minimal shirt selection and shoddy stuff. I needed a thermal mug. They had them, not competitive in price with what I eventually bought. One time I needed ammonia to clean some glass. They had no ammonia, just chemical concoctions designed by mediocre chemistry majors labelled as glass cleaner. When they have what I come for, I buy it. Mostly what I find is less competitive than what I can find other places. The people who work there do not make the corporation's wholesale purchasing, stocking, or pricing decisions. DEI, which I agree has not been implemented in the optimal way, has no bearing on any of my experience.
I've largely deep-sixed other retailers, though with no malice. Best Buy, Kohl's each too expensive. Local Walmarts often unkempt. What I've needed I find locked behind glass with no accessible employee with a key to show it to me. Costco is fun to browse, but empty nesters really need very little in quantity. Moreover, there is little need to stand in a long line behind full mega carts when I have one or two items costing less than $30.
So what are my preferences and why? Depends what I need.
The easiest for me has been my pharmacy. I chose it years ago due to walking distance from my office. Now it's a short drive with convenient hours. Top-notch pharmacists. Medicines always ready. Fully cooperative with my Medicare Part D. I almost never buy anything else at that supermarket.
Groceries are in transition. Shop-Rite established a Kosher section in conjunction with my Rabbi. It began as a personal friendship between the Rabbi and the Shop-Rite's chief. Both retired. The kosher service hangs on with a loyal volunteer, a person not treated especially well by the Dominant Individuals of my congregation. Selection has deteriorated, especially in the beef section. I rarely buy beef. But for general groceries, I find things easy to find and discounted more than the competing stores seem to. I now buy more at Trader Joe's. My staples there are eggs, bread, seltzer, bananas, and Roma tomatoes, plus greeting cards as needed. I always like being in that store. More recently an Aldi opened nearby. I like being there too, though it's price-dependent. Kosher is not on their radar, though certified products are available. I look at my outings there as a treasure hunt.
Clothing is more problematic. I do not buy much now that I am retired. For browsing, Marshall's, TJ Maxx, and Boscov's. All have more than clothing. Things for my kitchen other than food tend to come from Boscov's. Gifts for others from the other two.
My state restricts alcohol purchases to licensed stores. Total Wine is the way to go, except for beer where a smaller store has a better selection from smaller brewers.
I depend on the Home Depot, Lowe's, and a local hardware store for various things, but almost always know what I want to get before I head to any of these. I have found Home Depot online preferable to going to the store.
My shoes have a difficult to find size. Shoe stores display by style. I much prefer display by size. Amazon sorts this very well. I also buy electronics and smart watches from there. If I need a replacement part for anything, I can usually order it there.
At one time I purchased more Judaica and books than I do now. Those are transacted online, and not very often.
Themes to how I seek stuff out? If I do not know what I want, the places whose displays influence me seem to be Shop-Rite, Boscov's, TJ Maxx, and Marshall's. The supermarket just has an immense array of items for all purposes, from good values in healthy eating to patio furniture to soil enrichment for my garden. I read the ad each Sunday, make a list of must-get and might-get. Despite a list, I still go aisle by aisle.
The three department stores must have a different acquisition system than Macy's or Walmart. One month TJ Maxx will have Phillies caps and sturdy backpacks, another month grooming products that I had never heard of and a clearance on slacks. Boscov's clothing has predictability. The housewares and linens may reflect special deals that their buyers find on overstocks. The selection changes significantly from month to month, as I found out when I needed to replace a toaster and steam iron. I could not predict what brands would appear on the shelves.
To some extent, I find the surprise of what I might find appealing. Target certainly does not have that. I rarely need a salesperson to help, and most of the places where I shop really no longer have employees knowledgeable about what they sell, other than the Kosher deli guy at Shop-Rite. Except for expensive items like major electronics, I don't miss the expertise that salespeople once had.
What I don't seem to care about is the political stance that the executives take. These are mostly large corporations with dozens to hundreds of locations. They are all going to hire a broad group of people in the stores. They implement what somebody who I do not see decides. So availability matters. Target must have the two items I seek from them, as that is my only reason to go there. I need to be able to find what I am shopping for. Displaying by designer like the snooty stores sometimes do makes no sense when I prefer all items of my size sorted on racks by size. And I've never abandoned my fondness for surprise, the ability to purchase something whose display makes me want it. Those are fundamental retail strategy decisions which appear as shoppers browse but are made by a few people far removed from those shelves.
Each shopper probably has some blend of uniqueness and commonality. Judging that probably explains why Costco has a lot of shoppers every time I go there while Target has fewer than the stockholders might like. I think the DEI explanations are advocates pitching their own social preferences, not professional retailers dedicated to attracting customers.
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