The Effects of Target’s Policy Changes on Minority-Owned Businesses and Consumers

Outside of a Target building. Photo by Shabaz Usmani on Unsplash

By Myla S. Roundy and Kailey Butler

Since January, Target’s stock market has been on a sharp decline. The large retailer officially ended much of their diversity, equity and inclusion-related programs, including their Racial Equity Action and Change initiatives and all external diversity-focused surveys.

This comes after President Donald Trump ordered the ending of what he said are “forced illegal and immoral discrimination programs, going by the name ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI).”

This led numerous companies like IBM, Victoria’s Secret, and Bank of America to roll back their DEI policies. 

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On Jan. 24, Target made the announcement that they would be ending its program. 

At the time, Target’s stock was worth $137.89 per share and just three months later on April 8, it was worth $88.76, a loss of about 35%. 

On April 2, Trump announced a minimum 10% tariff on nearly every country around the world. 

This led to a drastic stock market crash that hit Target hard because many of the products they sell are imported. Taking this into account, Target’s stock the day before the market crash was worth only $104.43, a loss of 25%. 

This was a drastic loss for Target. The money that investors use to buy stocks goes directly to Target to fund operations. The money is called the market cap. 

When a large number of people sell their stocks, and those stocks lose value, there is also a loss in the market cap. This means that essentially, this boycott has cost Target $12.4 billion dollars. When this and Trump’s tariffs are taken into account, Target’s future earnings do not bode well. 

The daughters of one of the cofounders of Target, Bruce Dayton, shared their thoughts on the DEI rollback in a letter to the Los Angeles Times. 

“As members of the Dayton family, we are shocked and dismayed by Target’s rollback of its Racial Equity Action and Change and Supplier Diversity programs,” said Anne and Lucy Dayton. “We are alarmed how quickly the business community has given in to the current administration’s retaliatory threats. It is not “illegal” for a company to create a business model based on what it believes to be important ethical and business standards. By cowering, Target and others are undermining the very principles that have made their companies a success.”

Many diverse businesses have been impacted by this country-wide DEI rollback, including Ava’s Pet Palace, a minority certified business through the National Minority Supplier Development Council.

Ava’s Pet Palace is a family-run pet treat brand that was founded in 2016 by 8-year-old Ava Dorsey. Now 17, Dorsey and her mother have built a company dedicated to using simple and limited ingredients for all of their products. 

In 2023, Ava’s Pet Palace products were launched in Target and now two years later, Target has taken them off the shelves. 

Screenshot of Ava’s Pet Palace Target webpage from April 11, 2025.

Dorsey said it was a year-long process of many meetings to finally get on shelves and that it was a good experience to have because it was their first non-pet related retailer. 

“[It] was like a dream seeing our products on the Target shelves, but things did not end up working out [because] they had made a few changes recently in their values,” she said. 

According to Dorsey, it was Target’s decision to remove Ava’s Pet Palace from stores and according to their online store locator, they are still in almost 200 independent pet stores across the United States. 

Dorsey also mentioned that once their products were sold on Target’s shelves, some of the brands they had previous relationships with decided to no longer sell Ava’s Pet Palace products.

“It was definitely a learning experience,” said Dorsey. “It’s one thing to get on the sleeves, but it’s another to actually stay on.”

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Since January, social media users have had a lot to say about DEI rollback.

Media commentator Areva Martin posted a clip on Facebook on Jan. 30 from her digital talk show “The Special Report with Areva Martin,” where she discussed how this particular attack on DEI stands out because of its multicultural impact. 

On TikTok, user @queen_energy3 posted a video on April 20 saying the “Target boycott has transitioned into a Target breakout.”

Some of the comments in the video discuss not even thinking about shopping at Target anymore and how the boycott has turned into a breakup. 

On other social media platforms like Instagram, some brands have silently shared their stance on the rollback of DEI programs and initiatives. 

The Doux is a black-owned hair care brand with over 250,000 followers on Instagram. Before Target’s announcement, it was common to find “available at Target” in the captions of their posts; however, Target has not been mentioned since March 27. Despite this, the Doux products are still available for sale on Target’s website.

Screenshots from The Doux’s Instagram page on April 3, 2025.

As for the captions, currently, they only mention other stores like CVS, Sally Beauty Supply, and Walmart. The brand has even posted a video of a customer going to Walmart to buy their products and review them.

The Doux did not respond in time for publication.