Re: I Am A Dedicated Target Shopper! God Forgive Me!

great post! it prompted me to do a search on Target Stores. i used to love target. turns out, they're all the same!

Target Stores
Target Corp is principally owned by Citigroup (racist lending & market domination), General Electric, IBM, Microsoft, Exxon Mobil, Wal-Mart, General Motors, Philip Morris Tobacco, Johnson & Johnson.
Target relies on "college-educated women about age 40, most with children at home," and (in Ithaca) college students. These are the same people who'd likeliest be concerned to know that:


Sweatshop Labor
Target is has been sued for racketeering for sweatshop labor in Saipan.
Forced overtime, confinement, beatings, rapes and forced abortions are common practice, according to the U.S. Dept. of Interior. Target imports $22 million yearly from Saipan, where 32 shops require 12-hour days 7 days weekly. Since Saipan is a U.S. territory, companies can say goods are "Made in U.S.A." Same for American Samoa.

Child Labor
As well, they pay teenage girls $16/week in similar conditions in Nicaragua, making "Honor" label clothes. Target refuses to disclose whether they participate in any labeling program (such as Rugmark) or have a subcontractor code of conduct prohibiting child labor. Hand-knotted rugs and hand-sewn soccer balls are examples.

Prison Labor
U.S. prison laborers are making CD racks and shampoo racks for sale at Target, in South Dakota. Prison wages range from $.23 to $1.50 per hour. There are probably more examples.

Low Wages
According to an enthusiastic investor at investorville.com, "Target is a place I shop at a lot. The merchandise is somewhat more upscale (for a discount store) than you would ever find at a dump like K-Mart or Wal-Mart. Their profit margins are incredibly high mainly because they buy cheap and pay low wages for most of their employees with the exception of a scant few store managers who make great salaries but work about 18 hours a day."
Anti-Union
Target fought unionization (UAW3500, MI) to the Supreme Court, which forced negotiation.

Counterfeit Goods
American Crafts Projects appealed to the Federal Trade Commission (3/26/99), charging that Target Stores sell counterfeit American crafts. Target selects U.S. handcrafted items for mass copying in China.

Cat Fur
Last year, Target and other big box retailers were exposed for selling imported coats trimmed with dog and cat fur. No labeling is required on items valued below $150. Target is being boycotted for selling fur coats. Learn about trapping animals for fur.
Tacky.
Target has been sued, as the nation's third largest retailer, for violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, for declining to provide interpreters for deaf job applicants. Target has donated to Republican presidential candidates Bush, Dole and Hatch, and former senatorial candidate Giuliani, but to no Democrats for those races.

Do you want Target in Ithaca? City Hall does.

heedless of cost.
Sprawlbusters
bigbox
Citizens Planning Alliance
Target Sucks bulletin board

Guest Profile "Target is a store for families. Currently, our surveys show the majority of our guests are young, well-educated, moderate-to-better income families living active lifestyles. The median age of this family's Target shopper is 42, the youngest of major retailers. 80 percent are female. About 40 percent of Target shoppers have children at home. The Target shopper's median household income is about $49,000. About 80 percent have attended or completed college. In meeting the needs of these guests, Target also attracts and serves families of all other incomes ages and lifestyles who value quality merchandise at low prices in attractive, convenient stores."

What do you think? Tell Target.