I wrote a letter to Target

[Bel]

"I started working for Target about 2 months ago and I have come across
some real sticky issues which conflict with my personal ethics. I'm
going to address the biggest issue I have first. In the infant feeding
aisle at our store, you have formula on one side (I will commend
Target brand formula for not being vague about breastfeeding being the
better choice for infant feeding) and bottles and breastfeeding
supplies on the other side. On the side with the breastfeeding
products the signs are very inappropriate. I'm going to assume that
you don't want a picture of a woman breastfeeding lest you offend
anyone (although anyone who would be offended obviously has some
issues they need to deal with), but that whole side of the aisle is
covered in bottle nipples and babies being fed artificially. This is
just not acceptable. What would be the problem with just having happy
babies with no rubber in their mouths or a picture of a breast pump or
something similar? What you are doing here is normalizing a way of
feeding babies that is not normal or natural and in fact puts babies
at risk. Even in the chart on that aisle which is supposed to help
women pick the best breast pump for them, you have a picture of a
woman holding a baby with a pacifier in it's mouth. For one,
pacifiers are not generally advised if you want to exclusively
breastfeed (which every medical council in the world recommends for the
first 6 months of life). If you just turned that baby to face towards
the woman, people would assume she was breastfeeding it while she
wouldn't have to ACTUALLY breastfeed it, therefore offending nobody.
And anyone looking in that chart would surely not be offended by it
anyway? Or again, you could have a picture of the breast pump instead.

I work as a breastfeeding peer counselor for WIC and our office was
ruined last year by the floods. We are trying to obtain grant money
for a new building. Maybe you could balance out your misguided
advertising by using some of that money you advertise about (You know
the 5% of your profit that goes to local communities)to help us create
a new space to help our local women and children?

The other issue is the disgusting amount of waste created every single
day by just this one store. I work on logistics and so I get to unpack
all the product. Mostly I do softlines and we get boxes where we'll
have a particular size of underwear wrapped in a pack of say, 10 and
then there will be 10 more of the same underwear in the same size all
wrapped individually. None of it makes any sense. We will get a repack
box with like, one bra and a tube of mascara in it. It's truly
sickening. Our earth is dying and just in our one store, which is
pretty small for a Target, we are throwing away mountains of garbage.
Also, the food that gets destroyed because it has a dent in it or
damaged packaging? This could all go to shelters or food banks! What
is the point of giving so much money to local communities when this
happens? You could JUST give away your waste and it would probably be
equal in value. I have been told by staff who have worked for Target
longer as well, that they throw away furniture which doesn't sell. Why
can't this go to shelters? Especially in a community which was ravaged
by floods just one year ago and displaced so many families, there is
so much good you could do here without even trying.

Call me naive, but I thought Target were better than Walmart so I hold
out hope that you can make some changes at least in our community and
at our store."

I received a reply saying they had forwarded my email to the "Let Us Know" department which is for employees. I haven't heard anything back from them and I sent the email a week ago. I'm going to send it every week till I get a decent reply.

[fresh_veggie]

[Belle]

A couple of things. Please don't take this wrong, because I just mean them to be constructive.

1. I wouldn't mention that you are an employee. You will get a better response if you are a customer and you don't have to worry about a backlash against your job.
2. You don't say at all what the "inappropriate signs" are. You say something about pacifiers but I don't know if that's on the sign or on some of the products themselves. From my experience as a target customer breastfeeding supplies are labeled as "natural feeding products" and formula products are labeled as "bottle feeding supplies". To my knowledge there are no pictures.
3. The chart about different breastpumps for different needs is a great idea!
4. The part requesting a grant for your WIC office is better suited to a separate letter. Meaning one not criticizing them. Asking for money is better handled in a more positive tone. Also, you many want to take it up with your supervisor at WIC about asking local businesses for funds. They may have procedures for doing this that you're unaware of.
5. The part about wasting product could be framed in a different light. IE talking about recycling and how it would save money. Donating display furniture to a shelter is good community relations and can be written off for their taxes. This does two things. Helps them save money and they see you as a thrifty employee who is concerned about their bottom line (and the environment).

[MeganS]

I guess every Target is different... My husband use to work for Goodwill in Lafayette, IN. They recieved lots of products from Target. Basically everything that didn't sell while on clearance. I've noticed that the local Goodwills where we live now have products from Target too. So I know not all of them throw that much stuff away.

[Oztok5]

I think it's admirable to stand up for a cause you believe in by writing this letter, but I would consider separating the issues into different letters.

I think you put a lot of thought into the breastfeeding and formula advertising and signage and provided a lot of good ideas for the type of pictures that would be more supportive of breastfeeding.

I would gently encourage you to research a little further what is done with unsold and returned merchandise. I have worked in the past in retail on a corporate level, and it's my understanding that common practice is to return product to the manufacturer, donate or sell for extreemly low prices to places like Goodwill, or sell to places like Big Lots or other outlets. In my experience, the vast majority of things which are destroyed are done so because they are no longer usable due to damage or safety concerns or because of contracts with the manufacturers which do not allow it.

As far as the furniture goes, I know that most retail display furniture is not certified to the standards of the merchandise that is intended to be sold. This is especially true for baby items such as car seats and swings. In general, these items can not be donated because the safety can not be guaranteed. Is it possible that this is the furniture that was seen being destroyed?

I obviously can't vouch for the practices of any particular store, but in my experience, that is general industry practice.

[jecombs]

I agree with everything that pps have said about making changes. Your letter has a pretty negative tone (IMHO) and I would try to make it sound more cheerleader-y. Like, "Yay Target! Here's what we can do to make the world a better place and help comsumers view you as positive corporate citizen in the world!" Frame it in a way that makes the think they will make more money by taking your suggestions. Unfortunately, that seems to be what really drives change...

But good for you for actually caring and bringing this stuff to their attention!