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- I shopped at Walmart and Target to compare their Pride Month collections of LGBTQ+-themed items.
- The Walmart I visited had a few rainbow pajama sets. Target’s Pride collection was more extensive.
- Both retailers appear to be keeping most of their Pride merchandise online amid political pressure.
Pride Month looks different this year.
When I set out to compare Pride Month collections at Walmart and Target in June, I expected to see aisles full of rainbows and apparel with snappy slogans as I’d seen in previous years.
Instead, I found that both retailers kept much of their LGBTQ+-themed items online instead of on shelves.
The limited offerings at the stores I visited in Wisconsin could simply be due to differences in inventory across different locations. It could also be part of the brands’ broader efforts to avoid right-wing backlash while still catering to customers who celebrate Pride Month.
In 2023, Target said it was reducing its Pride collections due to “threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and well-being” from anti-LGBTQ protesters, and in 2024, it said only half its stores would carry Pride items. This year, it told BI it is “absolutely dedicated to fostering inclusivity” with its Pride collection.
Walmart’s chief marketing officer, on the other hand, said in 2023 that it hadn’t received threats related to its line and didn’t plan to pull any items, although it did remove some LGBTQ+ merchandise from its website in 2024. A Walmart spokesperson told BI that roughly the same number of stores are carrying Pride merchandise this year.
As some corporations scale back their Pride Month offerings amid political pressure, I was curious to see what kind of themed merchandise Target and Walmart might offer this year.
Here’s what I found during my shopping trips at the two retailers.
My first stop was a Walmart Supercenter in Saukville, Wisconsin, to check out its Pride merchandise.
The Walmart Supercenter spans 122,000 square feet.
I started in the seasonal aisle, but the store had already moved on to the Fourth of July.
The seasonal aisle was full of American flags, barbecue accessories, and red, white, and blue decor — no rainbows.
There wasn’t a designated Pride section in the store, but I found some Pride apparel in the pajama aisle.
A pajama set with rainbows and the words “Love” and “Be you” retailed for $16.98.
The rainbow pajama sets were the only Pride items I found in-store.
Another Pride pajama set printed with the phrases “Love is love” and “Love always wins” was priced at $9.98.
A Walmart employee told me she hadn’t seen much Pride merchandise in the store and that I’d have better luck shopping online.
When I visited Walmart’s website and searched “Pride,” I found a wide selection of Pride items, including clothes, flags, pet accessories, and decor, none of which were stocked in the store I visited or advertised on the homepage.
Next, I visited a Target store in the neighboring town of Grafton, Wisconsin.
This Target store was about 5.5 miles from the Walmart store I visited.
At 104,000 square feet, the suburban Target location is much larger than the small-format Target stores found in larger cities.
The Pride section was located at the back of the store near the fitting rooms in the women’s clothing section.
The Pride display was marked with a rainbow Target logo, but it took me a few laps around the store to locate.
Target’s Pride collection included a mix of clothes, accessories, home decor, and other knickknacks.
The T-shirts were decorated with slogans like “Authentically me” and “Proud.”
A black polo featured hearts in colors representing the trans flag as well as the rainbow colors of the Pride flag.
The all-gender shirt retailed for $24.
A 14-inch square rainbow pillow added a pop of color to the shelves.
Pride-themed teacups featured rainbow handles.
The teacup and saucer sets were priced at $8.
A dog toy in the Pride collection had the words “proud pup” in rainbow letters.
There was also a rainbow journal printed with the words “Love first.”
The journal was priced at $10.
While Target’s in-store Pride collection was larger than Walmart’s, Target’s website also offered a more extensive selection of items.
Target’s website had even more Pride apparel, jewelry, home goods, and accessories than I saw stocked on the shelves. A QR code in the Pride display directed customers to “discover more” of the collection online.
Both companies kept much of their Pride collections out of stores. I could have saved myself a trip and shopped online.
It’s possible that other Target and Walmart locations feature more robust sections for Pride Month.
A Walmart spokesperson told BI that inventory varies by store and that there has been no effort to move more Pride merchandise online.
A Target spokesperson told BI, “We are absolutely dedicated to fostering inclusivity for everyone — our team members, our guests, our supply partners, and the more than 2,000 communities we’re proud to serve. As we have for many years, we will continue to mark Pride Month by offering an assortment of celebratory products, hosting internal programming to support our incredible team and sponsoring local events in neighborhoods across the country.”
It’s also worth noting that this year’s Pride Month arrives on the heels of both companies rolling back their diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives following President Donald Trump’s executive order to end diversity programs across the federal government. This change has led some shoppers to boycott the brands.
As corporations grapple with how to approach Pride amid political, legal, and cultural shifts, it appears that retailers like Target and Walmart want to have their cake and eat it too.
They still sell Pride Month collections to cater to customers on the left, but keep them largely out of sight to avoid angering customers on the right. As Business Insider’s Dominick Reuter wrote, this approach risks backlash from both sides.
Read the full article here
