 |
|
|
|||||
If youve been thinking about skipping that Target run this weekend, you’re not alone. A grassroots group called The Peoples Union USA is asking shoppers to sit out spending money at major retailers, restaurants, and banks from midnight on Good Friday through Easter Sunday. No shopping, no spending, no fueling the corporate machine that has been bleeding us dry, organizer John Schwarz said in a video posted to Instagram. The goal? Hit big brands where it hurtstheir bottom line. The boycott follows weeks of frustration over corporate DEI rollbacks and rising political tension, especially with companies such as Target, which has been the focus of a separate 40-day boycott led by faith leaders during Lent. As a result of its DEI policy changes, Target has been the target of a boycott organized by faith leaders for the last 40 days, coinciding with Lent. On January 24, Target announced that it was getting rid of policies concerning hiring goals for minority employees, an executive committee focused on racial justice, and other changes to its diversity initiative. According to a report from Numerator, more than one in 10 customers surveyed on April 16 plan to participate in the boycott, though this move is less well-known than the widespread “economic blackout” that took place on February 28. Furthermore, not all participants are planning to fully stop their spending for the weekend, though many plan on avoiding large corporations, including the brands Target, Walmart, Amazon, McDonalds, and Starbucks. Half of all participants are shifting their dollars to local, small businesses instead. Users on X and Bluesky sounded off, reposting The Peoples Unions post and reminding users to take stock of what matters. Money anxiety is on everyones mind this week between taxes and tariffs, the CataLIST posted. Take back control by consciously choosing how and where you spend your money. This Blackout is the second widespread boycott organized by The Peoples Union. The first occurred on February 28, and the same report from Numerator said that although sales and trips were down across retailers, Amazon, Target, and Walmart saw declines beyond standard weekly variation. Black and LGBTQ+ consumers showed the most significant participation in the February 28 blackout. Many of these boycotts cite brands DEI pullbacks and policy changes at the behest of the new administration. Though blackouts and boycotts already have scheduled dates in the future, Target is attempting to fix its relationship with its consumer base as the 40-day “Lent” spending fast comes to a close. On April 17, Target CEO Brian Cornell met with Rev. Al Sharpton, head of the civil rights organization National Action Network, to discuss DEI and racial justice. Sharpton called the meeting constructive and candid, and plans to meet with some members of the National Action Network board of directors to determine next steps with Target. Whether or not the boycott makes a measurable dent in sales this weekend, organizers say its about more than just the moneyits about sending a message.
Category:
E-Commerce
The pending merger between Capital One and Discover Financial services received approval from several regulators Friday, bringing the $35 billion tie-up closer to completion. The Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency signed off on the deal, which was first announced in February 2024. The Federal Reserve Board said it entered into a consent order with Discover and assessed a fine of $100 million for overcharging certain interchange fees from 2007 through 2023. Discover has since terminated these practices and is repaying those fees to affected customers, according to the Federal Reserve. The boards action is being taken in coordination with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. It said Capital One has committed that it will comply with the Boards action against Discover of Riverwoods, Illinois, including remediation requirement, as a condition of approval. The OCC said its approval reflects its careful analysis of the effect of the merger on communities, the banking industry, and the U.S. financial system. Capital One, based in McLean, Virginia, said it expects to complete the acquisition on May 18 now that it’s received all required regulatory approvals. Shareholders of both companies approved the deal i n February. The deal joins two of the largest credit card companies that arent banks first, like JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, with the notable exception of American Express. It also brings together two companies whose customers are largely similar: often Americans who are looking for cash back or modest travel rewards, compared to the premium credit cards dominated by AmEx, Citi and Chase. It also will give Discovers payment network a major credit card partner in a way that could make the payment network a major competitor once again. The U.S. credit card industry is dominated by the Visa-Mastercard duopoly with AmEx being a distant third place and Discover an even more distant fourth place.
Category:
E-Commerce
President Donald Trump’s attempt to fire nearly everyone at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was paused on Friday by a federal judge, who said she was deeply concerned about the plan. The decision leaves in limbo a bureau created after the Great Recession to safeguard against fraud, abuse and deceptive practices. Trump administration officials argue that it has overstepped its authority and should have a more limited mission. On Thursday, the administration officials moved to fire roughly 1,500 people, leaving around 200 employees, through a reduction in force that would dramatically downsize the bureau. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said she was worried the layoffs would violate her earlier order stopping the Republican administration from shutting down the CFPB. She’s been considering a lawsuit filed by an employee union that wants to preserve the bureau. Jackson scheduled a hearing on April 28 to hear testimony from officials who worked on the reduction in force, or RIF. Im willing to resolve it quickly, but Im not going to let this RIF go forward until I have, she said. It’s the latest example of how Trump’s plans have faced legal hurdles as he works to reshape the federal government, saying its rife with fraud, waste and abuse. Other layoffs and policies have been subjected to stop-and-go litigation and court orders. The CFPB has long frustrated businesses with its oversight and investigations, and Trump adviser Elon Musk made it a top target of his Department of Government Efficiency. Mark Paoletta, the CFPB’s chief legal officer, wrote in a court declaration that “the bureau’s activities have pushed well beyond the limits of the law,” including what he described as intrusive and wasteful fishing expeditions. He said officials have spent weeks developing a much more limited vision for enforcement and supervision activities with a smaller, more efficient operation. Some of the CFPB’s responsibilities are required by law but would have only one person assigned to them under the Trump administration’s plan. The enforcement division is slated to be cut from 248 to 50 employees. The supervision division faces an even deeper reduction, from 487 to 50, plus a relocation from Washington to the Southeastern region. Before Fridays hearing, attorneys for the National Treasury Employees Union filed a sworn statement from a CFPB employee identified only by the pseudonym Alex Doe. The employee said Gavin Kliger, a member of DOGE, was managing the agencys RIF team charged with sending layoff notices. He kept the team up for 36 hours straight to ensure that the notices would go out yesterday, the employee said. Gavin was screaming at people he did not believe were working fast enough to ensure they could go out on this compressed timeline, calling them incompetent. The bureaus chief operating officer, Adam Martinez, told the judge that he believes Kliger is an Office of Personnel Management employee detailed to the CFPB and doesnt work directly for DOGE. Jackson said she will require Kliger to attend and possibly testify at the April 28 hearing. She said she wants to know why he was there and what we was doing. Were not going to decide what happened until we know what happened, Jackson said. The pseudonymous employee said team members raised concerns that the bureau had to conduct a particularized assessment before it could implement an RIF. Paoletta told them to ignore those concerns and move forward with mass firings, adding that leadership would assume the risk, the employee stated. White House officials did not immediately respond to questions about the judge’s decision or the employee’s court declaration. Michael Kunzelman and Chris Megerian, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||