Target���s Troubles Continue���and So Do Kellogg���s

A few days ago, this space detailed the news that Target CEO Brian Cornell was hit with a significant drop in total compensation in the wake of a miserable 2016 for the retailer. While a variety of influences are to blame for Target���s troubles, one of those is most certainly the decision by the company last year to make a very big, very public deal about its decision to let employees and customers use whatever store bathrooms correspond to their ���gender identities.���

In the same way, although a variety of factors are undoubtedly responsible for the troubles that Kellogg Co. has been experiencing, of late, it���s tough to dismiss as one of those the decision made last year by the company to drop its advertising with the popular right-leaning news site Breitbart, on the basis that the readership is not ���aligned with our values as a company.���

Breitbart, which estimates that it has about 45,000,000 readers, quickly organized a ���#DumpKelloggs��� boycott campaign. Coincidentally���or not���Kellogg soon after began reporting rather lousy news on its corporate front. Domestic sales of its cereals slumped through the end of 2016, and sales in 2017 are expected to be flat, at best.

Earlier this year, Kellogg announced plans to close nearly 40 distribution centers across the country. Now, it is clear those closures have moved beyond the planning stage. According to NBC 4 New York, 300-plus jobs will be lost as a result of the closure of Kellogg facilities throughout the Empire State.

As this column has previously noted, while such woes are not likely due entirely to a boycott effort, it is surely the case that denigrating the values of half the country haven���t helped Kellogg navigate through a more challenging business environment, either.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large