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Retailers See Gay Population as Next Audience to Court
WSJ ^ | July 9, 2012 | Karen Talley

Posted on 07/16/2012 8:12:42 AM PDT by kevcol

Retailers are becoming a lot less closeted.

They are turning their attention to gays and lesbians, a group that wields substantial buying power but isn't fully integrated into mainstream advertising. Similar to other moves to attract different minority groups, the push comes with risks, as it could threaten the retailers' relationships with some of their longtime shoppers.

Nonetheless, from J.C. Penney Co.'s (JCP) high-profile hiring of openly gay television personality Ellen DeGeneres as its spokeswoman to Target Corp.'s (TGT) selling of same-sex greeting cards, retailers are testing ways to cozy up to a community that by one estimate is as many as 16 million strong and has almost double the disposable income of the average American, some $49,000 per capita versus $26,000.
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J.C. Penney has been more aggressive than other large retailers in courting gays. In addition to hiring Ms. DeGeneres, the company featured two women as a couple in its May catalog and two men in its June offering. J.C. Penney also had a float in New York's Gay Pride parade, and the Two Dads--as the men have come to be known--also attended. J.C. Penney's monthly catalog is mailed to 14 million customers nationwide.
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Macy's Inc. (M) uses gay-friendly graphics in some of its windows during Gay Pride Month in June. "We support, and have for many years, pride parades in many cities," Macy's spokesman Jim Sluzewski said.

A Sears store in a Toronto mall that was along the route of this year's gay-pride parade in that city had models holding flags in rainbow colors, the symbol of gay pride. A spokesman for Sears Canada said the Toronto store was the only one that had such a display. Sears doesn't do gay-pride displays in the U.S...

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: ads; corporateamerica; gaypride; homosexualagenda; jcpenney; moralabsolutes; retail; sears
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And the results?

JC Penney: "more aggressive than other large retailers in courting gays"
While trading on above-average volume, JC Penney (JCP) decreased today, hitting and then dropping past its previous 52-week low to $20.70. The stock price is down 4.4% with a volume of 7.7 million. The stock is trading at 85.7% of its 50-day moving average and 65.7% of its 200-day moving average.


1 posted on 07/16/2012 8:12:50 AM PDT by kevcol
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To: kevcol

when you suck up to less than 4% of the population.. The same 4% that does a very good job of pissing off the other 96% of said population....

Your sales nose dive.

Duh..


2 posted on 07/16/2012 8:15:00 AM PDT by cableguymn (For the first time in my life. I fear my country's government.)
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To: kevcol

Attention all fudge packers ,,,, clean up in isle 3 .


3 posted on 07/16/2012 8:15:04 AM PDT by Lionheartusa1 (-: Socialism is the equal distribution of misery :-)
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To: kevcol

Why can’t these people just sell stuff and leave the social indoctrination to the activists?

Oh, I forgot. The activists are running the companies. And the news media. And the schools.


4 posted on 07/16/2012 8:17:30 AM PDT by Right Wing Assault (Dick Obama is more inexperienced now than he was before he was elected.)
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To: cableguymn

Maybe the 4% has grown considerably. That tells me it’s a lifestyle of choice.


5 posted on 07/16/2012 8:17:40 AM PDT by tsowellfan (http://www.cafenetamerica.com/)
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To: tsowellfan

Obviously, gay people see less need to hide these days, causing an illusion of larger numbers.


6 posted on 07/16/2012 8:19:11 AM PDT by Capn Freedom
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To: kevcol
They are turning their attention to gays and lesbians, a group that wields substantial buying power...
Trees. I thought of this in the equivalence of trees.

A lumber yard intends to sell toothpicks instead of studs and beams.
What a waste. Good luck with that, lumberyard.

7 posted on 07/16/2012 8:19:20 AM PDT by philman_36 (Pride breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty, and supped with infamy. Benjamin Franklin)
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To: kevcol

Aren’t white people the largest minority in the world?


8 posted on 07/16/2012 8:20:03 AM PDT by Leep (Enemy of the StatistI)
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To: tsowellfan
Maybe the 4% has grown considerably. That tells me it’s a lifestyle of choice.

People who believe in nothing will believe in anything.

9 posted on 07/16/2012 8:21:06 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Government is the religion of the sociopath.)
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To: kevcol
When we got married in 1972, our first credit card was JC Penney. Our quarters were stocked from that retailer for years. They sold us the basics with no frills. Now they are selling foo foo stuff at high prices. Too bad they lost track of the core American market.

A year ago, I cut up the card, not interested in someone who is not interested in us..

10 posted on 07/16/2012 8:21:34 AM PDT by pfflier
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To: kevcol
If I were back to school shopping for a school aged boy, I would make it a point to avoid retailers who market to gays. I wouldn't want my kid to go anywhere near their dressing rooms.

Call me a homophobe if you want, but it is the same common sense reasoning I use not to drive into certain neighborhoods after dark.

11 posted on 07/16/2012 8:23:35 AM PDT by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
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To: cableguymn

That 4% of the population does have a lot of purchasing power. Given the nature of their “lifestyle” you sure have lots of money to spend when you do not have kids to clothe, feed, etc.


12 posted on 07/16/2012 8:23:39 AM PDT by C19fan
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To: tsowellfan

Same-sex greeting cards??? Really????

What groups will they advertise/pander to next? Will they pander to the gang bangers of the world, and have sales on Trayvon Martin style hoodies???

Will they pander to the drug addicts, or the hoarders next? Hoarder type people would be good customers, because they fill their houses with so much C**p everywhere. Let’s have adds showing houses filled to the brim, so you can’t even walk in there. But if the stuff is from JC Penney, it’s all good.

Cater to the baby mamas too. And why not go for homeless chic too????? There’s lots of marketing possibilities.

Gay activists tell us that it’s “hetero-normative” to have adds which show moms and dads and kids, because that sets a standard which hurts the self esteem of those who don’t fit in. So, there you have it. Retailers want to make a political statement with all of this.


13 posted on 07/16/2012 8:26:00 AM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: cableguymn

“...when you suck up to less than 4% of the population..”

####

4% !?!

Homosexuals are lucky if they comprise 2% of the population.


14 posted on 07/16/2012 8:26:06 AM PDT by EyeGuy (Armed, judgmental, fiscally responsible heterosexual.)
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To: tsowellfan
Maybe the 4% has grown considerably.

They count prison inmates in this number. (If they had a choice, they'd be heterosexuals, but their choices are limited.)
Yes, the prisons are full. In some places, they're setting them free due to lack of space and/or funding.

Things aren't always what they seem, and it appears Penny's is falling for the deception.

15 posted on 07/16/2012 8:26:42 AM PDT by concerned about politics ("Get thee behind me, Liberal")
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To: C19fan
Given the nature of their “lifestyle” you sure have lots of money to spend when you do not have kids to clothe, feed, etc.

...and you also save $$$ when going out for the evening consists of a trip to the local park or public bathroom vs. dinner, movie, show, excusion.
16 posted on 07/16/2012 8:28:08 AM PDT by kevcol
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To: kevcol

17 posted on 07/16/2012 8:28:18 AM PDT by P-Marlowe (There can be no Victory without a fight and no battle without wounds.)
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To: kevcol

Will this include courting the Sandusky’s, the Dahmer’s, the John Gacey’s, and the genitally-mutilated transgender freaks?


18 posted on 07/16/2012 8:30:50 AM PDT by Neoliberalnot (Marxism works well only with the uneducated and the unarmed.)
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To: tsowellfan
Nope, just a very influential 4%.

Yes it is a lifestyle of choice. The entertainment industry is crawling with 'em and look at how they try to portray homosexuality as normal. Try watching a whole session of "So You Think You Can Dance" to get a good feel of the not so subliminal propaganda barrage.

The younger generation isn't more gay, they have just been bombed with the "normalcy" concept so much they have accepted the propaganda.

19 posted on 07/16/2012 8:30:58 AM PDT by pfflier
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To: Lionheartusa1

Attention all fudge packers ,,,, clean up in isle 3 .”

Coprophiles on call to isle 3.


20 posted on 07/16/2012 8:32:35 AM PDT by Neoliberalnot (Marxism works well only with the uneducated and the unarmed.)
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