Target Commits To Spending More Than $2 Billion With Black-Owned Businesses By 2025

Retail giant Target announced a commitment Tuesday to spend more than $2 billion with Black-owned businesses by the end of 2025.

Target has pledged to add products to its shelves from more than 500 Black-owned businesses and engage more Black retail companies to enhance retail operations and shopping experiences. Target will also introduce new resources to help its Black-owned resources grow and successfully scale their businesses.

Those resources include a new team dedicated to providing vendors with support and assistance to help Black-owned companies grow their brands in mass retail. This is part of a new program created by Target called Forward Founders.

The Forward Founders program will engage Black entrepreneurs early in their startup journeys in order to help them through the critical stages of business including ideation, product development, and when to increase operations.

“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,” Christina Hennington, executive vice president and chief growth officer at Target said in a release. “The bold actions we’re announcing today reflect Target’s ongoing commitment to advance racial equity for the Black community. They also represent significant economic opportunity for hundreds of new Black-owned companies, who we look forward to doing business with for years to come.”

Target’s commitment builds on the retail giant’s progress to increase its network of diverse suppliers and boosts its efforts to support more Black-owned businesses who have products ready for sale at retail.

Last summer, amid the revived Black Lives Matter movement following the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, Target unveiled a badge to help customers identify Black-owned products and brands. It also pledged to increase Black employment by 20% by 2023.