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Target Closing 12 Stores: Is it Because of the Boycott?  

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Is the #BoycottTarget campaign continuing to damage the retailer?
 
Target has announced it will be closing 12 under performing stores next year.  The company says the closings are based on profitability metrics.
 
"It's not a decision we make lightly," said Kristy Welker, a Target spokeswoman. "We have a really rigorous process in place in evaluating the performance of a store in deciding when to close or relocate a store. We close a store after seeing several years of decreasing profitability."
 
Tim Wildmon of the American Family Association, which calls its #BoycottTarget initiative "highly successful," said what Target should do to reverse declining sales is "welcome 1.5 million customers and their families back to stores—reversing the dangerous policy that puts women and girls in danger."
 
Target triggered the boycott last year with a blog post that said transgender customers were welcome to use the bathroom or fitting room that matched their gender identity.
 
"Everyone deserves to feel like they belong," the blog said. "And you'll always be accepted, respected and welcomed at Target."
 
1.5 million have since signed the #BoycottTarget pledge to not shop at Target.
 
Sales fell nearly 6% in the three quarters after the post compared with the same period last year, and same-store sales have dropped every quarter since the post, according to Business insider.
 
But other brick and mortar retailers like Sears have also had to close stores amid withering competition from Amazon.
 
As it closes some locations, Target says it will open 32 "smaller-format" stores this year and 35 new locations next year.

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About The Author

Dale
Hurd

Since joining CBN News, Dale has reported extensively from Western Europe, as well as China, Russia, and Central and South America. Dale also covered China's opening to capitalism in the early 1990s, as well as the Yugoslav Civil War. CBN News awarded him its Command Performance Award for his reporting from Moscow and Sarajevo. Since 9/11, Dale has reported extensively on various aspects of the global war on terror in the United States and Europe. Follow Dale on Twitter @dalehurd and "like" him at Facebook.com/DaleHurdNews.