January 12, 2014 - TargetGrunt
“Tough Times” for Target?
I was doing some reading online earlier today when I came across an article (which I will link below) about the newest update on the breach. For those out of the loop, the names, (email) addresses, phone numbers (and possibly SSNs) of 70 million additional customers were included in the stolen data. That brings the total up to 110 million, roughly 35% of the US population (or 317,353,904 according to http://www.census.gov/popclock/).
Leon Nicholas, an analyst for Kantar Retail in Boston, said that Target may need to “re-orient” management to “own the narrative again,” that “they can do it. But these are tough times for Target.”
Tough times? Really?
Let’s put a few things into perspective here.
According to Businessweek’s fiscal reports, Target ended 2013 with $21.57 billion in profit even after the effects of the breach. Total the company grossed $73.30 billion, a $4 billion improvement.
On top of this, Gregg Steinhaffel’s compensation package (which was $19.7 million in 2011) has been increased up to a whopping $28.62 million. His punishment for risking the leak of personal customer information by storing data in plain-text (with the exception of the PINs, which were encrypted) was a pay raise.
The best part about all of this though, is Target’s decision to close eight US stores in March, presumably to absorb the cost of legal fees and fines. They “claim” that they’ll find positions equivalent to those held by the current employees, but those of us on this site know just how well Target likes to look out for its employees. And I don’t know about your stores, but at my store hours are practically nonexistent. People are being told not to come in, sent home early, etc.
So on top of none of the executives being held accountable for their lackluster concern for consumers, us at the bottom are being punished. I’m hard-pressed to even call their “credit monitoring” a sign of goodwill.
So I ask you this: when is enough, enough? I can’t be the only one who is enraged at how little these CEOs care about those who make their companies function, but other than vent about it on here, I don’t know what to do. There’s got to be a way to stand up and rebel, or contact these smug assholes directly.
And to those of you reading who shop at Target: they do not care that your information was stolen. They only care about the bottom line.
Anyways, here’s the article that spawned this rant: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-01-10/target-s-ceo-buffeted-as-breach-lessens-tarjay-cachet-retail
And here’s where I got the rest of the info:
http://www.forbes.com/profile/gregg-steinhafel/ (2011 compensation)
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2012/12/ceo-compensation-12_Gregg-W-Steinhafel_8KF8.html (2013 compensation)
http://www.rttnews.com/2249540/target-plans-to-close-eight-u-s-stores-cuts-q4-u-s-segment-adj-eps-view.aspx?type=bn (store closures)
Oh, and lastly and most sincerely, fuck Target.
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To all the people saying "TARGET ONLY CARES ABOUT MAKING MONEY" all I have to say is: no shit. I keep hearing that and honestly, it's about as common knowledge as the moon is round. Target is the GREEDIEST company there is and the reps all wreak of bullshit. Best option is to just not shop at Target.
A couple of things to keep in mind. The 21 billion in profit is from sales only. After operating costs, salaries, taxes etc. their bottom line is very slim.
On the eight closing stores, the article states Eligible team members at these stores will be offered an opportunity to transfer to a similar position at a nearby Target location, the company said. Eligible means what??? (how much check you kiss)
Lastly someone will have to take the fall for the credit breach and I think it will be Gregg Steinhaffel poor guy!
P.S. target sucks!
Profit* is the amount of money earned AFTER operational expenses like the ones you listed. So that $21 billion is money that has, at this point, not been used for anything. And legal costs are only expected to be around $100 million, so that still leaves $20.9 billion in profit. However, I did miss that it was gross profit, meaning before tax (and here's the link I forgot to cite in the OP):
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/financials/financials.asp?ticker=TGT
And yeah, I'm guessing the transfer eligibility is only for the brown-nosers and supervisory staff. Everyone else is probably going to be out of a job.
*http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/profit.asp
One wonders how much of their income comes from internet sales? The few stores I busted my tail at always appeared to have costs increase greater than sales volume.