Minneapolis, MN \u2014 Data does not support Target\u2019s claim that it\u2019s closing stores due to theft, a new report finds \u2014 while others accuse the corporation of financial fraud, saying it is fudging its finances and falsely flagging shoplifters.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Due to \u201corganized retail theft,\u201d<\/strong> Target announced in September that it was closing nine stores, along with three in Portland, Oregon that closed in October.<\/p>\n The independent media watchdog Popular Information<\/a> breaks down crime statistics at six of the nine stores Target is shuttering and found that there are other different reasons than the official one the retailer gave for the closures.<\/p>\n Target said it\u2019s seeing a higher level of shoplifting \u2014 claiming a staggering 50% jump in \u201cshrinkage\u201d<\/a> year over year. Shrinkage or \u201cshrink\u201d is the difference between a businesses\u2019 recorded inventory and its actual inventory, usually understood as loss from theft. In 2022, Target said those losses amounted to well over $400 million, primarily blaming organized retail crime on the spike.<\/p>\n Shrink data on particular Target stores is not publicly available. Popular Info reached out to Target but said they did not receive a response. Unicorn Riot also asked the Minneapolis-based retailer for clarity regarding its annual data on shrink with no luck.\u00a0<\/p>\n Although we don\u2019t have data from Target, we do have police data from the cities where the closures are happening included in the media watchdog\u2019s report, as well as annual retail industry data. The watchdog group quotes the retail industry association\u2019s own report which contradicts much of the panic over organized retail theft.<\/p>\n According to the National Retail Federation\u2019s report<\/a>, retail industry shrinkage has fluctuated between 1.3% and 1.6% of total retail sales, between the fiscal years of 2015 \u2014 2022. And in the fiscal year 2022, the average shrinkage rate was 1.6% of total retail sales, up from 1.4% in 2021, but steady with 2019 and 2020, the watchdog notes.<\/p>\n \u201cMoreover, external theft is not the largest cause of shrink \u2014 other sources like \u2018process, control failures, and errors\u2019 and \u2018employee theft\u2019 account for a majority of the loss. Companies may be overemphasizing crime to deflect from internal issues.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Popular Information<\/em><\/p>\n The watchdog analyzed Target\u2019s crime data in New York, San Francisco and Seattle and found that the stores that are closing have lower levels of theft than nearby stores that remain open.<\/p>\n \u201cThis data suggests that factors other than crime are driving Target\u2019s decisions.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Popular Information<\/em><\/p>\n Its data analysis on the store closures is not perfect, as detractors point out: most theft goes unreported. But the report is not only supported with retail industry data, it is also consistent with Unicorn Riot\u2019s ongoing investigation into Target Corp<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n After announcing store closures, critics began debunking Target\u2019s claims<\/a> of out of control organized retail crime, parroted by mass media, and exposing the retailer\u2019s deep investments in high-tech crime fighting, including its two world class crime labs built in 2003 \u201cthat even the FBI can\u2019t match.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n When Popular Info\u2019s report reached consumers, there was widespread condemnation for Target online. Some even suggested<\/a> that the organized retail crime panic was cooked up inside corporate boardrooms. <\/p>\n Stakeholders in Minnesota chimed in, including State Rep. Aisha Gomez, chair of the Minnesota House Tax Committee<\/a>. <\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s much easier to fall into alarmist law and order rhetoric than admit things aren\u2019t going well,\u201d<\/strong> Gomez tweeted.\u00a0<\/p>\n Industry insiders agree that overall loss \u201c<\/strong>is largely in line with past years and is considered a normal and healthy level of shrink<\/strong><\/a>,\u201d<\/strong> according to CNBC.\u00a0<\/p>\n Popular Info reported that increased shrinkage tends to follow increased sales, and only in economic times of distress do corporations make it an issue, when other factors are actually at play.\u00a0<\/p>\n Target has selectively been speaking out about organized retail theft going back to 2008 when Forbes<\/a> referenced it in a story about Target\u2019s forensics labs, and the New Yorker<\/a> interviewed a Target executive for a full magazine spread on the matter, mentioning the words \u201corganized retail crime\u201d<\/strong> more than a dozen times. The story was released right as the Great Recession was taking effect.<\/p>\n However, Target has made record-breaking profits since its Lake Street store was looted, following the murder of George Floyd<\/a> by Minneapolis police. And it raked in over $31 billion last year, its highest earnings ever, while it complained about organized retail crime waves. One person pointed out<\/a> that the retailer is on track to do even better this year than last year, \u201ceven with all the stealing.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n So also I just glanced at their 2023 Form 10-Q for the period ended 7\/29\/23. They’re actually doing well. <\/p>\n Again, they do mention elevated shrink but don’t tie it to store closures. <\/p>\n To me, they look on track to do better than last year, even with all the stealing lmao pic.twitter.com\/FftLQNomWV<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Tiffani Ashley Bell (@tiffani) September 27, 2023<\/a> <\/p>\n Several observers including a former San Francisco public defender<\/a> have suggested that the crime panic was driven by hidden agendas. They\u2019re even accusing Target of creating false narratives <\/strong>that in turn help <\/strong>drive public opinion and public policy, with lasting effects.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThink about the leverage these headlines have. It\u2019s a strategic long game with political ramifications for all of us<\/strong>,\u201d former journalist Molly Priesmeyer tweeted<\/a>. <\/p>\n Sure, Target, with one of the world’s top loss-prevention programs and FORENSIC LABS even the FBI can’t match. “Theft and crime” are the main reasons you’re closing these stores. pic.twitter.com\/v0MUrY2Fcm<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 MollyPeonies (@mollypeonies) September 26, 2023<\/a> <\/p>\n Many have suggested that greed is the main motivation and the crime panic is merely a distraction that helps corporations like Target deflect from their gushing profits.\u00a0<\/p>\n Target Chief Financial Officer Michael Fiddelke, who earns a salary of more than $4.3 million<\/a>, made an astonishing claim on a call with reporters<\/a> last year: that shoplifting has spiked 50% year over year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Target made an even more remarkable claim in May: that organized retail crime is only getting worse and will cost $500 million more in losses this year than in 2022. Target won\u2019t disclose how much it actually \u201clost\u201d last year, but the retail titan claimed shrink grew by a mind blowing $750 million in recent years, CNBC reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n At precisely the same time Target began campaigning hard against organized retail theft, it announced it was struggling to dump excess inventory.\u00a0<\/p>\n Onlookers are challenging America\u2019s retail darling. \u201cLarge corporations seizing the political and cultural moment to do massive financial fraud because they know that people either can\u2019t do basic math, or they aren\u2019t paying attention,\u201d <\/strong>@WaywardWinifred tweeted<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Some have taken the findings from the watchdog report to imply that Target has committed serious crimes against investors.<\/p>\n \u201cAt what point does this become securities fraud? These companies are just plain lying about why their stores failed and are using copagandists Sinclair et al as a mouthpiece because they know it will unquestionably reprint any claim that parrots the cop union narrative du jour. \u201d<\/strong> @paperbagriker<\/a> wondered in a tweet. (Sinclair, the largest owner of TV stations in the US, has used its ownership to push identical conservative messages<\/a> en masse.)<\/p>\n As Popular Info and several online users noted, mainstream media repeated Target\u2019s press release uncritically and unchallenged.\u00a0<\/p>\n Prior to the watchdog report, Priesmeyer blasted Target on social media, tweeting<\/a>:\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAnd speaking of political opportunity: Look at the great opportunity [Target] got to support a conservative \u2018fear\u2019 agenda, and their future financial goals, by getting at least 80 outlets across the country to use a headline about \u2018theft and crime\u2019 shuttering retail outlets.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n And there it is. A nothing news story that put \u201ccrime and theft\u201d in headlines across the county. .07 is BELOW the 1-2 percent average retailers experience every year. pic.twitter.com\/80UGuc7b3h<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 MollyPeonies (@mollypeonies) September 28, 2023<\/a> <\/p>\n It\u2019s not just critics from the left. The conservative Twin Cities satirist Jewel Eldora, best known for his conspiracy theories and for mocking social justice issues, blogged<\/a> about Target\u2019s influence over U.S. newsrooms.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c<\/strong>For decades, Target and the Dayton family have been the largest purchaser of newspaper advertising in nearly every city they operate. \u2026Target has bought 4 color ink by the barrel,\u201d <\/strong>which Eldora claimed has made them \u201ca darling of editorial boards<\/strong>.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n In 2006, a business consultant working for the multinational retailer planted a story in the Washington Post<\/a> about Target\u2019s new surveillance and policing partnership, which was revealed in Unicorn Riot\u2019s short film, Unscathed: How the Press Helps Hide Target\u2019s Harm<\/a>.<\/p>\n This is also when Target first publicly disclosed its funding for the county attorney\u2019s office to lock up repeat offenders in downtown Minneapolis, where its headquarters are located.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were huge strings attached when we received the funding for our new staff \u2026 In the past, the DA\u2019s office tracked \u2026 how many criminals were charged, though once we were working with Target, we were required to track \u2026 how many convictions we get in a year,\u201d <\/strong>which exploded by thirty-fold, <\/strong>then-Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar told the Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to the article, police can \u201cpatrol neighborhoods by remote control,\u201d thanks to its surveillance partnership with Target Corp. Target used the Post to announce it was funding the Minneapolis police and the Hennepin County Attorney\u2019s office without the voices of Minneapolis residents, activists, or scholars to push back.<\/p>\n The Washington Post never disclosed the author\u2019s professional relationship with the multinational retailer. Within days the Star Tribune ran the same story also failing to mention the author\u2019s employment with Target.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Unicorn Riot\u2019s years-long investigation divulges Target\u2019s partnership with the press and its ability to manipulate crime narratives, which not only supports Popular Info\u2019s key findings, but it supports some of the worst accusations against the corporate giant.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0Part 10 in the series:\u00a021st Century Jim Crow in the North Star City<\/a><\/h3>\n
What the Data Demonstrates<\/h2>\n
\u2018Organized Crime\u2019 Panic Fallout<\/h2>\n
\u2018Massive Financial Fraud\u2019\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Target and the Press<\/h2>\n
Investigative Series Supports New Report<\/h2>\n