Posted on 03/05/2015 6:17:40 AM PST by TurboZamboni
Some senior buyers are already gone. Vice presidents, too. But for 13,000 other Target Corp. employees in Minnesota, there's fear that the bull's-eye is on their backs. Target jolted the Twin Cities on Tuesday when it said "several thousand" corporate staffers will be laid off in a cost-cutting move. Executives didn't say who, when or where -- although the buzz is the ax will swing freely next week.
Since the news broke, reaction to Target's $2 billion cost-savings plan has been split, especially by street. On Wall Street, analysts mostly liked the plan. Target stock touched an all-time high Wednesday morning before slipping lower after a flurry of analysts raised price targets. "We came away positive on some of the early changes and direction the company is going," wrote Jefferies analyst Daniel Binder.
Efraim Levy, an analyst at S&P Capital IQ, upgraded Target stock to a "hold" from a "sell," but he recognized there was pain along with the gain. "Unfortunately for the employees that will be affected, it's a necessary part of the business," Levy said. "Competition doesn't stand still, and (Target executives) have to make themselves cost and operationally efficient and competitive."
But at Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis, where Target has its world headquarters, morale was hardly at an all-time high. Online message boards were abuzz with worry and speculation about which departments were vulnerable, with particular venting directed at former CEO Gregg Steinhafel and Target's board of directors
(Excerpt) Read more at twincities.com ...
I don’t like Target as a company, but it is never a good thin to celebrate several thousand people being laid off.
Unfortunately, as money dries up much work has to either disappear altogether or head somewhere cheaper (in the US or elsewhere); the resulting death spiral of the northeast can’t be stopped because there is no money left. Our roads/bridges are crumbling, but since fewer legitimate (taxable) businesses are using them anyway just let them go. The disadvantage we have (where we need boatloads of money just to get back into shape in terms of infrastructure is simply pushing businesses and taxpayers further away from us.
I’m glad my children never knew the 80s; these times would seem so grim to them. Instead, they’ve grown up in a time where this is the norm, and if they want better they’ll have to work for it.
Often the token white guy is far older than the assorted “others” (and in the back); pretty foolish considering how (according to the Bolsheviks) we have all the money. We definitely still have many of the jobs, as ethnic/gender tokens have been cut with the rest of the dead wood.
I interviewed with Target back in mid-80’s to computerize their stores.
I’m not exactly sure they knew what a computer was used for back then.
Probably still don’t.
Yes, the white guy, or father, is always the doofus.
If you reversed the gender roles in some of these commercials, all hell would break loose.
Thanks. That hard-left populist turn already happened (in 2008), and doesn’t appear to be correcting itself any time soon. Dems get almost half the votes just by screaming “He’s white with money” at the Republican opponent (through their media outlets); just winning the government worker votes gives them a majority...
Our country saw a bloodless Boshevik coup in 2008, and few people even realize it. When they point to specific points that suck (like the new ObamaCare tax), they don’t see it as part of the larger movement that has simultaneously destroyed religious freedoms and privacy, stigmatized profits, etc.
You can drive around the city of Atlanta, even on the expressways and you’ll see dark street lights - they can’t afford to pay the electric bills because they are pi$$ing away the money on largess. Same thing for the 100+ year water system - won’t commit and spend the money because of the same reason.
The cash cow for Atlanta is the Hartsfield Airport (Maynard Jackson doesn’t deserve the honor of being included). It could fund all sorts of things but it is and has been a venue for Atlanta Mayors for payoffs, favoritism, nepotism and a whole host of dubious purposes.
Sure they do - it’s a large data storage electronic device that we leave open to the outside world so we can be transparent to all who would desire our customers’ personal info.
Paging Governor Mark Dayton and his wonderful MN employment statistics.
Definitely; I make sure to point out to my sons that most things they encounter in everyday life were invented/designed/built by white guys. I know there are exceptions, but not so many...
Funny you should mention the lighting; here in northern NJ there was just a news story about lights along the highways in Paterson NJ being cannibalized by bandits for the metals (for scrap), and the lack of money to both fix them and install surveillance to prevent future thefts.
Northern NJ has little left to offer; Newark itself is a transit hub (with an airport) that is surrounded by hordes of people who contribute nothing while expecting everything. We’ve lost a lot of jobs here (most recently, Mercedes is moving its HQ to Atlanta), and they won’t be coming back. Young people that want to stay here simply look for a place on the government teat (as teachers, cops, firemen, etc.) as the only stable, very lucrative employment options. The masses of immigrants we traffic here to keep our government caste employed has no intention of funding it (or older Americans’ retirements, for that matter).
They have unions, whereas Walmart doesn’t, right?
No. In fact they said they would specifically NOT follow that model.
Target was mismanaged. They should lay off administration. I used to love Target, but saw a change a couple of years ago. They took away valuable floor space to put in a grocery store. The prices in the grocery section were not any cheaper than any other grocery store, and their choice of vegetables, seafood and meat was extremely minimal. What would be the point in shopping for groceries at Target when you cannot buy half of the product you need? Might as well go to a regular grocery store.
When they eliminated floor space to put in a grocery, they got rid of a huge part of their product line. You used to be able to go to Target looking for a blender or toaster, and you would see a large selection. Now, you only see one type of household product that you need on the shelf. So why bother? order online.
Their clothes used to be really cute, but now their clothing buyers are terrible. I have not purchased any clothes from them in a long time.
Bad, bad management.
I don’t shop at Target. I have boycotted them ever since they disallowed the Salvation Army bell ringers and refused to say Merry Christmas. WalMart learned their lesson but Target never did. So screw them.
You're so bad.
“Look at the bright side, At least they will collect unemployment and food stamps which will help stimulate the economy, see Nancy Pelosi.”
And with Obamacare, they are free to do the things they REALLY want to do, like paint pictures, write plays, and compose music.
Lawyers and Wall street Analysts. What are 2 things the world would be better off without.
Who will ride in on the “light rail’ trains and buses to downtown Minneapolis?
Indeed I do. I was a night stocker then and the next thing we knew, a lot of Target discards were hired by W-M and started implementing those "we did it this way at Target" ideas. One of 'em was to get rid of the useful vests with their pockets for markers, box cutters, etc. and go to a non-pocket blue T-shirt (Target's are red).
Someone asked why we had to wear a uniform and was quickly told it was a "dress code" - because the company would have had to pay for the Ts if it was a "uniform". A "dres code" meant the workers had to buy them.
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