Target Commits to Spend $2B With Black-Owned Businesses

Target plans to spend $2 billion by the end of 2025 in support of Black-owned businesses, the Minneapolis-based retailer announced April 7.

As part of its commitment, Target will expand its assortment of products from Black-owned suppliers to more than 500 in-stores and online. Target also plans to increase its spending with other Black-owned companies, including marketing agencies, construction businesses and maintenance providers. Finally, the retailer is launching a program called Forward Founders that will seek to engage Black entrepreneurs and leverage Target's resources and size to help early-stage startups scale their businesses.

"We have a rich history of working with diverse businesses, but there’s more we can do to spark change across the retail industry, support the Black community and ensure Black guests feel welcomed and represented when they shop at Target," Target EVP and Chief Growth Officer Christina Hennington said in a news release. 

One of the vendor partners Target spotlights in a video released in conjunction with the press release is Des Moines, Iowa-based BLK & Bold Specialty Beverages, whose coffees have been available at Target stores since 2020. "Having a partner that’s willing to help see where you’re going but also work with you where you are is just monumental validation for a business and entrepreneur,” company co-founder and CEO Pernell Cezar said in the video.  

Having the largest retailers in the world invest in Black-owned businesses can help create "a bridge to households across America," Cezar said, and that "not only impacts the economics of the Black community, but our society as a whole."

Target's $2 billion commitment is part of the company's Racial Equity Action and Change (REACH) strategy, which focuses on accelerating diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in four key areas: guests, team, communities, and civic engagement and public policy.