7/21/2017
Source: Bloomberg
Target Corp. Chief Executive Officer Brian Cornell is sounding alarm bells over the state of Hispanic shoppers in the U.S. -- a key growth demographic for many retailers and consumer brands. Cornell didn’t mention President Donald by name, but he talked about a shift in behavior this year and mentioned “border towns” -- where retailers for years have depended on shoppers from northern Mexico for higher revenue. Trump took office in January after promising to crack down on undocumented immigration, especially from Mexico. Purchases by Hispanics at U.S. retailers in categories tracked by researcher NPD Group have fallen 8 percent this year. As the number of U.S. Hispanics has grown over the past decade, the group’s spending power has increased and made it an in-demand demographic. Two years ago, Target began a campaign geared at Hispanics called Sin Traduccion -- without translation that featured words with no English equivalent.