Target Plans to Spend $2 Billion with Black-Owned Businesses

Target is one of the major retailers that is making the effort to recognize the power of Black consumers and the quality of Black-owned products. Target is planning to add more than 500 new Black-owned brands to their shelves by 2025 and hire more black construction and advertising firms. As well as this, they are launching a new program to identify and support promising minority entrepreneurs. Altogether, Target is planning to spend $2 billion to promote racial equality and support the Black community. 

 “We have a rich history of working with diverse businesses, but there’s more we can do to spark change across the retail industry, support the Black community and ensure Black guests feel welcomed and represented when they shop at Target,” said Christina Hennington, Target’s executive vice president and chief growth officer. 

 In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, more businesses are making an effort to make sure that Black people feel represented and comfortable shopping at their stores. Some of the Black-owned brands available at Target include Black Girl Sunscreen, Naturade, Alaffia and Alikay Naturals. They now stock a wide range of Black-owned brands in many different categories, ranging from beauty products to baby products and toys. Many of Target’s high-revenue categories (including grocery) underrepresented the Black community. Black-owned businesses in the beauty and fashion industry tend to be more represented by retailers. To see the Black owned brands available at Target, click here. 

 Target is also launching a program called Forward Founders, which will actively support Black businesses. The program is designed to guide Black-owned businesses to long-term success in retail. The program is supposed to help Black-owned companies at the early stages of the startup process, so they have the support of a large retailer through stages of ideation, product development and scaling for mass retail. This means that these Black-owned businesses will be more able to specify their position in their respective industries and market their products effectively. Target is making a long-term commitment to target and stock more Black-owned businesses because this program will help these small businesses grow with the backing of a retail giant. 

 This initiative builds on Target’s Racial Equity Action and Change (REACH) committee, which was established last year. This committee includes a diverse team of senior leaders within the company; the committee is part of Target’s continual work to end systemic racism. 

 Target is also aiming to increase Black representation in their workforce. They want to increase the representation of Black team members across all levels of their business by 20% in the next 3 years. They also aim to increase the advancement of Black employees through their company. Target has been working for years to expand its range to include more Black-owned brands. In 2017, Target introduced a Black-Owned Business Vendor Fair, with more than 400 Target employees attending to sample products from Minneapolis-based Black-owned businesses. 

References:

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