[barake]

Blaming shrink may be a way to not spook the market for issues with their business:

> Target’s business has struggled for more than a year with company-specific challenges, including a glut of unsold inventory, backlash to its Pride merchandise collection and a pullback in consumer spending on discretionary items such as apparel and home goods.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/26/target-says-it-will-close-ni...

[frumper]

One would think that the issues you highlight would be less pronounced in large cities, and progressive locations. If target was closing stores in small cities you've never heard of then you may have been on to something.

[thelastparadise]

> Pride merchandise collection

Calling it this seems a bit disingenuous.

"Pride" is a pretty broad word. Who's proud? What are they proud of, exactly?

[thaumasiotes]

The fact that "Pride" occurs in the middle of a sentence removes any potential ambiguity.