Last week, I violated one of my own cardinal rules: I engaged with two MAGA women in a local mom Facebook group. I usually ignore them because the ignorant hysteria makes my blood boil and they have the sole intention of daring the libs to fight with them. This time, they were screaming misinformation about inflation, Ukraine funding, and conspiracies that I traced back to far right websites. I don’t know what got into me, but that day, I decided that I had the time. It was bonkers because they refused to believe that corporate greed is a massive factor in why prices have not come back down. According to them, “record profits” for big corporations has no big correlation to them jacking up prices for consumers.
Anyway, in related news, Target announced this week that they’ll be lowering prices on 5,000(!!) of their “frequently shopped items.” The cuts will remain through the end of the summer and are being done out of the good of their hearts to help them stay competitive. Target’s profits increased last year, but their sales and foot traffic dropped in comparison to wholesale clubs like Costco, BJs, and Sam’s Club, so a big part of the price cuts is to appeal to consumers who are budgeting around higher prices.
Target announced today that around 5,000 of its frequently shopped items will see prices reduced in the coming weeks. The prices on about 1,500 items have already been cut, and all the remaining price changes will be in place by the end of the summer.
“These price reductions will collectively save consumers millions of dollars this summer,” Target said in a news release, but it’s also a way for the retailer to stay competitive within the market.
Among the items discounted will be food products, Memorial Day items, things for Fourth of July fun and of course, back-to-school gear.
Here are some examples of price cuts already made and what categories will continue to see reductions:
Good & Gather Unsalted Butter (1 lb) – $3.99 to $3.79
Good & Gather Organic Baby Spinach (5 oz) – $3.29 to $2.99
Prime Hydration Sports Drinks (16.9 fl oz) – $2.19 to $1.99
Jack’s Frozen Pepperoni Pizza (14.3 oz) – $4.19 to $3.99
Thomas’ Plain Bagels (20 oz) – $4.19 to $3.79
Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Cheddar Flavor Blasted Crackers (6.6 oz) – $2.99 to $2.79
Good & Gather Sea Salt Roasted Nuts (9.5 oz) – $6.89 to $5.29
Clorox Scented Wipes (75 ct) – $5.79 to $4.99
Huggies Baby Wipes (16 ct) – $1.99 to $.99
Aveeno SPF 50 Sunscreen (3 fl oz) – $13.89 to $13.19
Persil Liquid Laundry Detergent (100 fl oz) $13.69 to $12.99
Purina One Chicken & Gravy Cat Food (13 oz) – $2.39 to $1.99If an item has a new price, it will have an easier to decipher red tag on it in stores and online.
“We know consumers are feeling pressured to make the most of their budget, and Target is here to help them save more,” Rick Gomez, executive vice president and chief food, essentials and beauty officer of Target said in a statement Monday.
Do you guys consider this to be a win? I think anytime a company lowers prices, it’s a win for consumers, but FFS, it took long enough and those prices still feel kinda high to me. I know we’ve all felt the extra expenses in gas (thank goodness for Costco gas!) and groceries over the past few years. My own Target list has decreased significantly over the last six to nine months, for sure. I noticed several months ago that Wegmans’ prices in my area were almost back to pre-inflation prices and it’s now cheaper for me to pick up certain items there that I previously bought at Target, like bread, milk, vegetables, and ground coffee.
Anyway, it’s cute that Target is trying to play this off like they want to help us save money when in reality, they’re just finding out that it doesn’t matter what you blame your price hikes on. Higher costs are not sustainable to the majority of customers. People feel the added expenses regardless and will make adjustments to prioritize what they really need. Walmart, Aldi, and IKEA have all committed to lowering their prices this year, too, while McDonald’s and Wendy’s will be hyping up their value meal menus this summer. Maybe all of these companies are learning that there is a limit to the amount of yachts their CEOs can buy on the backs of consumers.
So you agree, inflation is just a made up thing for companies to increase profits without doing any actual work. https://t.co/07VQuVod3g pic.twitter.com/rWmkcNLsNI
— Gay and Tired (@GayChemist) May 20, 2024
Clearly demonstrating that it was price gouging, all along.
^ this!
It’s like that moment in the Wizard of Oz when Toto pulls back the curtain and the guy keeps trying to keep the smoke and mirrors going.
Um, nope!
We see you, price gouging executives with 7 figure paydays, stock options and massive profitability bonuses.
Not to forget: raising pricing WHILE DECREASING amount of product given. “Shrinkflation” is the term, I believe.
When you see top level employees still being paid big bucks, companies buying high-priced super bowl ads and paying for celeb endorsements, you definitely know they are gouging. Even high level support of charities, shows how much they are overcharging.
Yeah, they would keep increasing prices if the decreased sales were insignificant. Almost every big corporations are making record profits since covid. I reduced my spending and started waiting for monthly discounts. They will never learn until people stop giving them money.
Thank you for fighting the good fight
Ugh prices are ridiculous.I still can’t believe that people bought homes without inspections, paid double for cars at these interest rates and tolerate retailers like Target gouging them. Inflation is outrageous and I don’t understand why the Fed at this point thinks keeping rates high is going to help. Something is wrong here.
Ha, so it wasn’t Agatha, it was price gouging all along!
Target is freaking expensive. We have a Walmart a mile away (one of the “fancy” super walmarts if a walmart can be fancy) and the closest Target is about 20-30 minutes, so when I visit a Target its like a different, more expensive, world, lol. I can find pretty much the same thing at Walmart as I can at Target and Walmart is going to be half the price (for anything like clothes or home decor.) they don’t have all the brand collaborations that Target does but I feel like its been a while since Target’s had a decent brand collaboration anyway.
One time a year ago I tried to buy groceries at Target while my kid was at a bday party nearby and I spent an outrageous amount and felt like I got nothing.
My husband is pretty good about remembering prices and knowing what something costs where so we’ll hop around a bit between Walmart, Costco, Aldi, Wegmans (which has really good prices on basics for us) and then the nicer stores like Martin’s.
Food is just expensive these days so I’m not going to be mad at a company lowering their prices, but its kind of mind boggling to think they can lower prices on thousands of items and still have a huge profit.
Counterpoint, Walmart barely pays a living wage and even though people are working they are often on public assistance. As a single person there is no winning. I often end up throwing food away. My freezer is full and I have yet to master cost effective and efficient shopping.
oh walmart is awful as an employer, for sure. But I don’t think Target’s prices are higher because of how much they pay their employees.
My point is that there has been a significant downshift in Target’s quality especially for the pricepoint and not everyone can afford to take a moral stand when shopping unfortunately.
They keep raising their salaries though. They’ve done a few bumps over the past couple of years. Managers are making good money and hourly workers are above minimum wage, at least in most cases. Obviously minimum wage needs to be higher and the corporate ruling class needs to go choke generally, but there are worse individual places to be spending your money than Walmart these days. At the Waltons make a lot of charitable contributions…. better there than Amazon.
Did a lot of my shopping at the in-city Target. No access to Walmart, Costco, etc. But they are losing me with this whole locking everything up ridiculousness. You are making me wait for someone to unlock a $4 deodorant? Give me a break.
I absolutely refuse to buy anything from Target that’s behind a locked cabinet. It’s ridiculous. I have to assume they are pushing people towards online shopping on purpose.
I refuse too, it’s maddening! At my Target they locked up boys socks and underwear too. But the last few times I’ve been all of the previously locked up skincare have had the doors open. The worst change is the bazillion cameras that they’ve installed. It feels so invasive and gross. I feel like I’m in Minority Report or something.
If they hadn’t jacked up their prices in the first place I bet they wouldn’t have such a big deodorant theft problem.
I do most of my grocery shopping at Aldi, with occasional forays to Whole Foods when I need something fancy. Every time I go to Target I’m really surprised at how much more expensive than Aldi they are!
Ppl on TikTok started a thing about what they’ve given up bc prices are too high. Some are talking about how they gave up cereal, eating homemade oatmeal instead. Gave up microwave popcorn, making at home with a jar of kernels instead. Homemade yogurt. Homemade bread even (!!!)… And that it took a while to adjust (more time, more cleanup), but they are seeing not just money saved, but less waste, less trash, better health, better taste. They say they’re not going back.
No wonder they want to ban TikTok. It’s FAFO for a lot of corporations soon.
The problem is that they are lowering prices on things that have increased an average of 25% since before the pandemic. So artificially high pricing has been reduced to slightly less high pricing. I’ll take the win, of course, but they aren’t doing it for the consumer. They’re doing it to compete. This is basic supply and demand economics. Demand has dropped, so they lower prices.
This is a bandaid because companies like Target and McDonald’s realized they have pushed their consumer bases too far. Price gouging while companies made record profits and with no limits on executive pay/stock buybacks is the issue. A $5 meal at McDonald’s and a few price drops at Target isn’t the solution. Hold off on purchasing. Do not purchase from the worse offenders like Amazon and do NOT renew Amazon Prime. Trickle down economics was always bullshit. Tax these assholes on the cooperate and personal levels. Limit “executive” pay and do not purchase from companies that fight unions and push anti-diversity MAGAT agendas.
It looks like all the reduced price items are from the grocery section. Food and household/cleaning products. I am old enough to remember that Target used to not sell any of those types of goods. It was more of a classic (but affordable) department store: clothes, jewelry, bed/bath, home decor, cards, stationery, electronics, small appliances. I wish they would just nix the grocery. We don’t need Target to be everything. Let grocery stores be grocery stores, and department stores be department stores again!
Oh I am so with you on this comment. Walmart bringing in food kind of grosses me out.
I miss Zellers, I miss Sears. At least they knew who they were. My local Safeway replaced by Whole Foods (ridiculously expensive – even their ‘alternatives’ are more than Save-On-Foods, which at least is locally owned. But my Save-On is undergoing renovations right now, so they can become more like everyone else. Bugs the Bejeesus out of me).
They should never have raised them, greedy bastards!
That is barely a price drop! A win I suppose but definitely not enough. You know they could drop things by a couple bucks and still make a huge profit.
So many brick and mortar stores are going out of business, that I worry for all my favorite places. When Pier I went out of business, I cried. Target can’t be next. But I’m all for lower prices.
I am all for fast food going up if it helps with food quality and fair wages. But it’s probably just going into greedy pockets.
most of those listed are literally .20 cents, some are actual drops. but Really? Sure Jan, that’s going to make me RUN to Target to take advantage !! Kidding! No it’s not – when they make actual drops in pricing, I’ll think about it. Aldi for the win!
These companies overlook for this short term “penny wise dollar foolish scheme” and don’t realize our consumer behavior is way different than 2019. We already all ran out of bread and toilet paper and bottled water which will really show you what you can and can’t do without. I couldn’t find liquid detergent, refused to pay $10 for eyeliner that used to be $3, tried gardening, tried ordering out until they put a 25% mandatory tip on everything, made good cocktails at home, and have changed grocery stores more times than they could keep up with. It would be the cherry on top to me if we eventually demonstrated we can live with less, especially the icky feeling that comes from losing more of your money while we all know the farmers, immigrants who harvest the food, factory workers, truck drivers and store employees are seeing zero of the profits.
I want to give this comment a standing ovation! Everything you said, Beka!
Target announcing they are lowering prices gives me childhood flashbacks of that scene from Mr Mom where they lower the price of tuna! Someone at Target is pullin a Schooner Tuna! Ahahaha!
I love Mr. Mom! It’s not often you come across references to it. 😄