EDITORIAL Target breaks promise to community By: Ron Edwards Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 6/4/2003 Target breaks promise to community The Target Corporation�s announcement last week that it will close its store in North Minneapolis at Broadway and Lyndale Avenue North has gripped this portion of the city, which will be devastated economically and possibly politically. This decision throws into question the relationship between Target and its parent companies � the Dayton Hudson-Marshall Field is empire � and the City of Minneapolis. In a news release from Minneapolis City Council Member Natalie Johnson Lee, (Green Party, 5th Ward, where this shutdown is targeted), she raises the question asked whenever corporate America decides to pull the rug out from under the least of its citizens, which, in this case, is clearly us, people of color: What about the $66 million in subsidies that the Target Corporation received for its significant and lucrative venture in downtown Minneapolis (a very large Target store, Target corporate headquarters, and other amenities and considerations)? The decision by Target has not been met by the �Oh Boss, that�s okay� that the Target hierarchy anticipated, particularly in light of the ease with which reliable sources tell us they closed a store in Detroit. The decision to close this Target by August 2, throwing 123 citizens, human beings, into the street (a very significant number of them African Americans and residents of the immediate community) staggers the mind with respect to a once great corporation whose reputation was that of being caring in its relationship with communities of color. We understand that both Council Member Natalie Johnson Lee and State Representative Keith Ellison will be holding public information meetings, or even hearings, to review the impact our community will suffer as an outgrowth of this decision by Target. The rationale provided to a group of African American leaders a week ago was that this store is in the lower fifth percentile of stores in terms of profit making. http://www.spokesman-recorder.com Shawn Lewis, Field Neighborhood -- _______________________________________________ Sign-up for your own FREE Personalized E-mail at Mail.com http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
