More Target-ing. C'mon Mr. Ulrich! Give. It. Up.

November 24, 2004
Mr. Robert Ulrich CEO
Target Corporation
1000 Nicollet Mall Minneapolis, MN 55403

Dear Mr. Ulrich:

I have only recently begun to shop at Target stores. I did so at the suggestion of a friend who has shopped with you for years.

On the whole, I've found shopping at Target made sense. Most of the time when I've gone to a Target store I've left with the item I sought (I am one who enters a store with a specific need, I don't browse). That's why I kept returning.
That may soon change.

It has come to my attention that Target has decided that for this and future Christmas seasons you will not allow the Salvation Army to solicit donations at the entrances to your stores.
That, Sir, is a mistake. You have lost your way. I am not alone in this thinking.
Having been a consultant to the retail industry for over a decade, I know your business. And while I'm not privy to your financials, I will hazard a guess that the sales you make for the few days between Thanksgiving and New Years account for 35 or more percent of your annual revenue.

The retail purchases that are made during this time of the year are almost entirely intended as gifts to be given in the spirit of Christmas. Clearly, that Christian spirit of giving has been crassly manipulated by the retail industry but it remains that that spirit, rather than your marketing, drives the purchases made. The Salvation Army more than almost any other charity is the embodiment of Christian giving. This army of caring souls seeks to aid the most downtrodden of us all. To my knowledge, they have no other agenda; making them all the more special in today's climate of more and more politically nuanced giving.

I have yet to begin my Christmas shopping. As I stated earlier, I have only recently found Target and as easily as I found your stores I can lose them. I expect I'm one of many thousands who will permanently shop elsewhere should your new policy stay in effect.

Let me pass on some wisdom from Sir Winston Churchill: "We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give."

Respectfully,
_______."