Before 2010 I was a frequent Target shopper. I was proud that my city Minneapolis MN had a World wide corporation that had it's home in Minneapolis on the Nicollet Mall! I was also glad that it was owned by The Dayton Family, one of the most iconic families in Minneapolis. I used to brag it up on Camfrog, a video chatline I often visited. But this all unraveled in January 2010 when The Supreme Court decided corporations would be treated like people and allowed to help finance political campaigns with unlimited funding. So the sky was the limit and there would be no watch dog to monitor how much was given to who! The only two Journalists who talked about it and how it could be a problem for political equity were Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow both of MSNBC at the time. I was concerned at the time but unknowingly kept shopping at Target.
Then a report came out that a new political organization was being formed in Minnesota called, MN Forward. It's press release stated that it was formed to promote Private Sector Job Growth and facilitate economic opportunity in Minnesota. It sounded great like most organizations that help the unemployed get jobs but it was a facade to fool the general population and the media! The local media dug deep to get to the truth and found out that it was secretly procuring funds from corporations for The Republican Party to help fund it's political campaigns. The largest recipient of funding from MN Forward was the Republican Gubernatorial Candidate, Tom Emmer! But the biggest shocker was that the largest financial contributors to MN Forward were The Target Corp. and Best Buy!
I thought this is nuts! The Democratic Gubernatorial candidate was Mark Dayton! Why would his family turn against him? I found out that Target had been sold by the Dayton family to another retail corp. But that still didn't make any sense because most of Target's customers are low income people. There are some that are middle class too but their primary customers are the poor ! This was like a double whammy! They are helping the political party that has always shafted the poor! This is very hypocritical of Target! All the glitzy ads saying they donate to the community is a big BS!
I made a pledge then to NEVER SHOP AT TARGET AGAIN! The only way I would is if they were apologetic and said they were sorry for their major faux pax and promised they would stay out of politics! I haven't heard that yet so I have switched to Walmart! I was sad to see the First Lady, Michelle Obama< shopping at Target! Bad move Michelle! The newly remodeled Walmart Supercenters are just as attractive as Target!
There are many alternatives to Target for you to shop. I have already mentioned Walmart,you could also join their other store, Sam's Club. Both of my twin daughters belong to Sam Club. They sell lower cost electronics, clothing, and some furniture! You have to buy in bulk food and cleaning products but if you have a big family it saves you money. If you want to save money on food shop at Aldi's! It's their brand but it's comparable to the brand name products, in fact their canned chili is much better then Hormel Chili! There are other stores too where to shop, the venerable Kmart, Big Lots, and Family Dollar, They all sell groceries too! The best dollar store is Dollar Tree because it is a genuine dollar store and they have good merchandise!
So, who needs Target? Not us LOYAL DEMOCRATS! We are not stupid enough to finance the Republican candidates indirectly! THAT'S WHAT YOU DO IF YOU SHOP AT TARGET!!!