Business

From the New York Daily News: Walmart, the country’s biggest retailer, is staying silent about its transgender bathroom policies. The Arkansas-based corporation repeatedly refused to reveal its stance about transgender bathroom use for its shoppers and employees, despite requests by the Daily News every day for the past week. Inquiries to Walmart’s media relations team were first sent last Tuesday, …

Whoa. From the Charlotte Observer: Mecklenburg County has suffered an economic blow of $285 million and a loss of as many as 1,300 jobs as a result of House Bill 2, a new Charlotte Chamber report says. The report also says inquiries about new economic development are down 58 percent since lawmakers passed the bill in March, and client visits …

Via press release: “Every year, the employees of Hershey Entertainment & Resorts (HE&R) welcome over 6 million guests from down the street and around the world. We recognize that the more perspectives we have within our company, the more welcoming we are to all those who visit and seek employment here. In fact, our company has four core values, one …

Via press release from the American Family Association: On a media call last, week Target CEO Brian Cornell was asked if the boycott had an effect on their sales or stock price. He responded by saying “To date we have not seen a material or measurable impact on our business. Just a handful of stores across the country have seen …

Customers usually scurry away when street preachers launch into one of their ranting tirades inside of a Target store. But not this customer, who got right in the nutjob’s face while he screamed about Jesus Christ, perverts, abominations, and his right to sue any Target employee who touches him. Watch below.

Via CBS Minnesota: From sidewalk picketing to online petitions, the opposition to Target’s bathroom and fitting room policy isn’t going away. Outside the state office building in St. Paul on Monday, a large truck rolled up carrying a strong anti-Target message. “Send Target a message — don’t shop where women and children’s emotional and physical safety and privacy are under …

Fortune reports: Target reported a disappointing set of first-quarter results on Wednesday and warned investors to expect a slight drop in business in the current quarter. The discount retailer pointed to many factors pinching sales, damp and cool weather in parts of the company and skittish consumers, among them. But one thing not hitting sales is the purported boycott of …

Back in February, I launched a twice-monthly column for the website of Britain’s Pride Life magazine, a quarterly LGBT rights and lifestyle magazine. Today’s seventh installment is titled Obama Administration Takes Bold Action On Transgender Rights. Hit the link for my status report on trans rights, Target, hate groups, and the feds. DISCLOSURE: Pride Life is owned by the US …

Investor’s Business Daily reports: Wendy’s said that self-service ordering kiosks will be made available across its 6,000-plus restaurants in the second half of the year as minimum wage hikes and a tight labor market push up wages. It will be up to franchisees whether to deploy the labor-saving technology, but Wendy’s President Todd Penegor did note that some franchise locations …

In so many words, of course. Via press release: “American Family Association is appreciative that Target representatives were willing to accept the signatures of more than one million Americans and meet with us about our deep distress over Target’s unsafe bathroom policy, which permits anyone who identifies with another gender to enter the restroom or fitting room of the opposite …

But it’s just a “coincidence” that these companies might lose their tax breaks. From Raleigh’s NBC affiliate: While Republican state leaders have complained about being “bullied” by the federal government over House Bill 2, lobbyists in Raleigh tell WRAL News they and the businesses they represent are being bullied by state lawmakers seeking to silence business opposition to the new …

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports: Target Corp. will stick with its policy of allowing transgender customers to choose the bathroom they wish to use, chief executive Brian Cornell said this morning. He added the company is adding more family restrooms in its stores, an option for people who worry about the mixing of sexes in bathrooms. Cornell made the remarks during …

Watch the video below. Happening today in New York City: Hundreds of senior LGBT and Ally business leaders from around the world will convene on Wednesday, May 11 for the sixth annual Out Leadership Summit in the U.S., hosted by global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP, at the Edison Ballroom. Formerly known as Out on the Street, Out Leadership Summits …

According to a tweet issued today by Fox Business, Target officials have agreed to meet with the American Family Association, the anti-LGBT hate group behind the boycott. Fox attributes that news to notorious liar Todd Starnes and no independent confirmation of this meeting can be found at this writing. Last week a Target spokesperson declared that the company was “standing …

From the New York Daily News: A Democratic group is trolling for anti-Donald Trump stories — and trolling the presumptive Republican nominee — with a new website called DonaldTrumpScrewedMe.com. American Bridge, a Democratic outside group whose head has ties to Hillary Clinton, is launching the new website aimed at getting some nasty facts on The Donald. The website is geo-targeted …

Activists from the right wing National Center for Public Policy Research ambushed PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi at the company’s shareholder meeting in North Carolina yesterday, warning her that PepsiCo would be made “another Target” unless she backs off from her call to repeal the state’s anti-LGBT hate law. Nooyi, apparently, wasn’t having it. From the group’s press release, here’s an …

Via press release: After more than 1.1 million people pledged to boycott Target, celebrities and corporations alike are having second thoughts about crossing Americans on such a consensus issue. The decision by the retail giant is not only sparking massive backlash, but it’s helping the country get a real picture of the controversy in North Carolina. It’s also shown liberals …

The Associated Press reports: A battle is brewing at Starbucks over how much ice the coffee chain uses in its drinks. A Chicago woman is suing the chain for $5 million, claiming Starbucks overfills cold drinks with ice. The federal lawsuit was filed on behalf of Stacy Pincus, who claims the company is misleading customers. The lawsuit alleges an iced …

MoveOn has launched a #StandWithTarget petition to counter the petition authored earlier this week by the AFA. From the MoveOn petition: “I pledge to support Target and any other business that stands up for transgender rights and accommodates transgender people in their restroom use.” Sign at this link. They’ve gotten 26K signatures already.

Breitbart is thrilled: More than 1,000,000 people have signed the boycott pledge against Target, following the secretive decision by executives to open all of their stores’ bathrooms and changing rooms to people of both sexes. Late Thursday night, roughly 75 people a minute were adding their name to the petition as it clicked over 1 million, just after 10:30 pm …