“Black History Month is a sacred time when we honor our legends and extraordinary ancestors,” intoned a video Target posted to Instagram last February. As if to underscore just how sacred, over January and February of last year, Target commemorated Black History Month seven more times on Instagram, for a total of eight posts on the platform, where it has 6.1 million followers.

Previously, Target posted about Black pride and history during Black History Month a total of eight times in 2021, six times in 2022, and 11 times in 2023.

This year, Target posted about Black History Month just once.

It was in a February 2 post that highlighted what it called its “#BlackHistoryMonth collection 🤎” of products from Black-owned and founded brands. That post (which Target also shared on Facebook), drew an avalanche of negative comments from Instagram users, who called out Target for championing the month just nine days after it announced it was rolling back its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts, as we reported.

So did Target plan to post about Black History Month more this year, but stop after it was excoriated by commenters for that post (and for every post on various subjects since)? In repeated requests for comment, Retail Brew asked Target why it posted about Black History Month only once this year, and whether it considered it part of its decision to curtail its DEI efforts. Target did not respond to our questions, as it had not for our four previous recent stories about its DEI turnabout.

Keep reading here.—AAN

Retail crime continues to be a thorn in retailers’ collective side. It not only results in dwindling profits but a considerable chunk of consumers who are now simply afraid to shop in person, according to a new survey by Flock Safety and Zencity.

About one-third of consumers surveyed said they saw retail crime as a major concern, while 58% said it has made them want to shop online instead of in stores.

The numbers are even more concerning among those who had actually witnessed a retail crime in person—63% of those consumers prefer online shopping as a result.

“The fact that 1 in 3 Americans view retail crime as a serious concern, and that concern is driving shopping behavior online is a crisis for vibrant neighborhoods and commercial districts,” Zencity CSO Michael Simon told Retail Brew via email. “When retailers close their doors, everyone suffers—from employees to community members to municipal governments that rely on the tax base from these businesses.”

Keep reading here.—JS

Sewing and quilting supplies made a big comeback on Shopify in February.

Handcrafted items and functional DIY projects sparked increased sales for quilting thread (up 201%), quilting rulers (up 131%), craft cutters and embossers (up 88%), and straight pins (up 87%), per the latest data from Shopify shared with Retail Brew.

The platform that builds e-commerce stores also noted a spike in orders for custom fashion in February. Consumers spent more on customizing clothes with fabric repair kits (up 80%), printable fabric (up 60%), buttons (up 31%), and linen (up 20%).

Keep reading here.—VC