Blogger Organizes Boycott of Target Over Limited Plus-Size Options

It’s absolutely no secret that Target- a retailer we love because it’s not Walmart – has kind of a shitty relationship with plus-size women. There have been plenty of calls for the retailer to stop ignoring plus-size women but they’ve mostly fallen on deaf ears at the retailer. On Thursday, Chastity Garner posted a masterful takedown of the latest designer collaboration, highlighting her disappointment in the size options:

For so long, I loved you. I always went above and beyond in our relationship. I’ll visit you to get a couple of items and more than a couple hundred dollars later and a cart full of products, I have left giving you way more than I ever planned to. No matter how much I give, you never seem to appreciate me. All I want is the clothing you offer all your other regular sized customers, but you always leave me out. With that being said, I have to end this relationship. It’s you, not me and for my own well-being and my self dignity I have to sever ties between us.

This may seem a little dramatic, but the recent release of the photos of Altuzarra for Target collection has me feeling slighted. I’m up late, working as usual, and I see Refinery 29 post 50 photos of the newest designer collaboration. Literally 50 pieces of beautiful (and I mean beautiful) affordable clothing and none of it will be remotely close to the size that I wear. The collection consists of deeps hues of burgundy, fabulous snakeskin prints, and fall worthy silk-like maxi dresses…enough to make any fashion lover lust. My heart sinks. You have once again made me feel like a second-class customerand because of that I’m going to have to discontinue my relationship with you altogether. Year after year, season after season, you put out these gorgeous designer collections and you almost never include a plus range. Every time each of these collections is about to be released it feels like a slap in the face. To add insult to injury, over 6 months ago, you took most of your plus size clothing out of the store, promising me something new and improved and that has yet to happen. I’ve been in this abusive relationship with you for far too long. I can’t do this anymore. I will be personally boycotting Target altogether. No more housewares, grocery shopping, electronics…nothing. I’m done.

She was done with Target, but she sure as hell wasn’t done letting people know about their shitty practices. Garner launched an online boycott (using the #BoycottingTarget #AltuzarraForTarget hashtag) and, as Clutch reports, the boycott took off, with many people promising to spend their money at places such as plus-size retailer Lane Bryant. By the way, Target, ask JCPenney how well adopting an attitude of eliminating plus size options worked for them a few years ago. Women who were for years loyal shoppers, abandoned the store and took their money to Kohl’s and other places. It’s terrible business to ignore a significant portion of your customer base. Yet in the push to market themselves with a certain image, businesses still seem to think they need to distance themselves from plus size options. Basically “we don’t want fat people wearing our clothes because it makes the clothes seem less desirable.” This is bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit. Bullshit.

A spokesperson for Target responded to the boycott. Joshua Taylor spoke with Refinery 29 about the future of the company’s plus-size options. “We never want our guests to feel disappointed, and if we’ve let them down, we apologize,” he said. “We appreciate the opportunity to hear directly from our guests. We’ll take this feedback into consideration as we move forward. In the meantime, we offer a variety of plus options. We’ll also be introducing a new plus line in the near future that features a focus on the latest styles, all at great prices.”

So basically he said nothing, except we might change if we feel like it now please go buy more of our stuff. Cool story, Target.