this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2023
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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 268 points 10 months ago (11 children)

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 87 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

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'.

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[–] Witchfire@lemmy.world 81 points 10 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] butterflyattack@lemmy.world 42 points 10 months ago (2 children)

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

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[–] metaStatic@kbin.social 52 points 10 months ago (2 children)

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 48 points 10 months ago (1 children)

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 162 points 10 months ago

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

No shit.

[–] CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world 91 points 10 months ago

They are finding the stone is running out of blood.

[–] bstix@feddit.dk 88 points 10 months ago (8 children)

Shoppers are quiet quitting. Nobody wants to shop anymore

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[–] Th4tGuyII@kbin.social 88 points 10 months ago (16 children)

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 ...

[–] elbarto777@lemmy.world 15 points 10 months ago

Or they have the money but they're shopping elsewhere.

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[–] June@lemm.ee 67 points 10 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] KneeTitts@lemmy.world 25 points 10 months ago (8 children)

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 24 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (3 children)

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 57 points 10 months ago (22 children)

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 54 points 10 months 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 48 points 10 months ago (11 children)

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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[–] ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works 46 points 10 months ago (2 children)

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

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[–] snekerpimp@lemmy.world 44 points 10 months ago (11 children)

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 27 points 10 months ago

Something something no one wants to eat anymore.

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[–] Teon@kbin.social 43 points 10 months ago (4 children)

Maybe the rich people could BUY MORE UNITS. Since the rest of us normal people don't have that kind of money.

[–] squiblet@kbin.social 15 points 10 months ago (1 children)

But they’re counting on us buying UNITS so they can make money. Just hasn’t occurred to them that they have to pay the working class money in order for them to spend it.

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[–] Furbag@lemmy.world 43 points 10 months 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.

[–] BURN@lemmy.world 42 points 10 months ago (9 children)

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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[–] cfi@lemmy.world 37 points 10 months ago (1 children)

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 23 points 10 months ago (2 children)

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

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[–] spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works 29 points 10 months ago (6 children)

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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[–] Jeffool@lemmy.world 28 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months 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.

[–] Yewb@lemmy.world 26 points 10 months ago

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

[–] BeautifulMind@lemmy.world 24 points 10 months ago

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

[–] reverendsteveii@lemm.ee 22 points 10 months ago (1 children)

NOBODY WANTS TO BUY ANYMORE

[–] Smoogs@lemmy.world 21 points 10 months ago (1 children)

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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[–] xenoclast@lemmy.world 22 points 10 months ago (4 children)

It's almost like they don't have money

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[–] circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org 22 points 10 months 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.

[–] alienanimals@lemmy.world 21 points 10 months ago (7 children)

Fuck Brian Cornell. He's overpaid and does a shit job.

[–] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 23 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Well yeah, he's a CEO of a major corporation.

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[–] be_excellent_to_each_other@kbin.social 20 points 10 months ago (2 children)

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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[–] krolden@lemmy.ml 20 points 10 months ago

The only time I buy groceries at target is when I go there for something else and find a bag of chips they dont sell at the grocery store.

[–] xc2215x@lemmy.world 20 points 10 months ago (1 children)

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

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[–] dan1101@lemm.ee 19 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

When almost everything is more expensive (and often smaller portions) people can't buy as much.

Not just groceries either; rent, vehicles, property taxes, insurance, fuel, everything.

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 17 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Are they pulling back in general, or are they "just" pulling back from Target?

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