Target used to be a store I truly loved.
Back in college, my roommates and I would frequently drive over to Target to stock up on supplies for our off-campus house like toilet paper and inadvertently spend money we didn’t have on things like throw pillows and wall hangings.
But in recent years, Target has changed. A lot.
These days, walking into a Target store is a bit of a crapshoot. You may get lucky and find a nice selection in your aisle of choice. Or, you may find yourself rummaging through disorganized, half-empty shelves in the hopes of finding whatever it was you came in for.
And don’t get me started on the fact that Target apparently only sometimes believes in price tags.
Recently, I took my tween daughter to the store for sweatpants and had to go on a scavenger hunt just to figure out how much I was looking at spending. And it’s not just me.
Target shoppers complained about the same thing in a recent Reddit post. As one user wrote, “If I can’t see a price tag I’m just gonna put it back more likely than not.”
All told, Target has a lot of issues it needs to fix. And the company recently acknowledged that. But it’s a little unclear as to where Target goes from here.
Shutterstock
Target has been struggling and losing customers
Target is deep in the throes of a major slump, and it needs a serious lifeline.
During the company’s most recent quarter, Target reported a 3.8% drop in comparable sales and an 18.9% decline in operating income. And in the third quarter of 2025, foot traffic at Target fell 2.7%, according to data from Placer.ai.
Related: Target policy makes some shoppers uncomfortable
Part of that decline may boil down to the fact that consumers aren’t happy about Target pulling back from its DEI initiatives. But the issue really goes beyond that.
As one user wrote on this Reddit thread, “Target has become a disaster with no value for customers.”
Another wrote, “There’s no reason to go to Target. They aren’t cheap (Walmart/Costco), they aren’t convenient (Dollar stores, Aldi), they aren’t trendy (Sprouts, Whole Foods, Natural Grocers) so, why would you shop there?”
That basically sums it up.
Target admits it’s lost its way, promises positive changes
Target has clearly fallen out of favor with consumers, and its recent financials prove it. The good news, though, is that Target is taking steps to own up to its shortcomings.
As Bloomberg recently reported, Target’s new CEO, Michael Fiddelke, acknowledged during his first town hall that the company has lost shoppers’ trust and needs to take steps to rebuild it.
Related: Dollar Tree squanders huge opportunity with customers
“We weren’t clear enough about who we are as a company,” Fiddelke told staff, according to a recording Bloomberg had access to. “When we aren’t clear enough, that confuses people. We didn’t do enough to correct that confusion.”
What does that mean for customers? For one thing, it could mean better organization within stores and an improvement in inventory management. A Target spokesperson told Reuters the company plans to focus on merchandising and the store experience in the near term.
But perhaps more so than anything, Target has a reputation problem to fix.
More Retail:
- Costco sees major shift in member behavior
- Retail chain shuts all locations as legal changes hit industry
- Costco makes major investment in online shopping for members
- Lululemon struggles to reverse concerning customer behavior
- T-Mobile launches free offer for customers after major loss
Cleaning up stores and delivering on more consistent inventory is certainly a step in the right direction. But at this stage of the game, it would benefit Target tremendously to do more to build goodwill.
That could mean better supporting employees and local communities – something the company told Reuters it also intends to focus on.
All told, there’s enough lingering nostalgia for the Target of yore for the once-popular retail giant to stage a recovery. But if Target wants to win customers back, it needs to really make good on these pledges and not just admit that it lost its way.
Maurie Backman owns shares of Target.
Related: Shoppers push back on grocery giant’s new anti-theft measure
