{"id":234523,"date":"2025-10-23T13:48:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T13:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/234523\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T13:48:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T13:48:13","slug":"target-to-support-small-businesses-through-rice-partnership-amid-dei-controversy-leadership-transition-and-sales-decline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/234523\/","title":{"rendered":"Target To Support Small Businesses Through RICE Partnership Amid DEI Controversy, Leadership Transition, And Sales Decline"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since 2020, Target has partnered with the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs<\/a> (RICE) to support small business founders with the access, education, and connections needed to grow and thrive, Target shared<\/a> in a news release on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025.<\/p>\n

Through this collaboration, Target has helped bring innovative products to market, elevate emerging brands, and equip entrepreneurs with the tools to succeed in the competitive mass retail space.<\/p>\n

RICE\u2019s Retail Readiness Academy (RRA), a seven-month program that provides tailored strategies, insights, and retail connections to accelerate the growth of established Black-owned brands, is a key part of this effort.<\/p>\n

In 2024, Target doubled the size of the RRA cohort and deepened its involvement with RICE through executive mentorship and behind-the-scenes store visits to inspire entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n

A long-time supporter of historically Black college and university (HBCU) students and alumni, Target also launched \u201cHBCU, Always,\u201d \u2014 a docu-style series highlighting lifelong campus connections and welcoming passionate graduates into a broader support network, the news release notes.<\/p>\n

As part of the initiative, select entrepreneurs receive a two-year RICE stakeholder membership, which provides the resources, education, and community needed to elevate their businesses.<\/p>\n

For entrepreneurs at every stage, RICE also hosts a Saturday School program, offering various courses to build essential business skills. Through quarterly Saturday School Takeovers, Target will contribute to this effort by sharing retail expertise on topics including scaling, business fundamentals, and retail readiness.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Target and RICE will also launch a dedicated retail showroom to boost visibility for Black-owned brands, the news release states. As part of this expanded partnership, Target is helping revitalize the RICE Market \u2014 an on-site retail space showcasing products from RICE-supported entrepreneurs \u2014 with a fresh look, engaging pop-ups, and seasonal activations designed to drive visibility, community engagement, and sales.<\/p>\n

Target Faces Swift Financial Backlash After Withdrawing DEI Efforts<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to note that this commitment comes at a challenging time for the retailer.<\/p>\n

In January 2025, Target withdrew its three-year diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals, sparking swift backlash and a 40-day consumer boycott<\/a> led by Rev. Jamal Bryant. The boycott was later extended despite the company reaffirming its $2 billion commitment to Black-owned businesses \u201cthrough products, services, and Black media buys,\u201d as previously reported by AFROTECH\u2122<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the third quarter of its fiscal year, which began in August, Target continues to see declining sales. As AFROTECH\u2122<\/a> previously reported, its stock has dropped 10% in pre-market trading and remains one of the poorest performers in the S&P 500 this year.<\/p>\n

Target CEO Steps Down<\/p>\n

On Aug. 20, 2025, it was announced that Target CEO Brian Cornell will step down. According to AFROTECH\u2122, Cornell took over in August 2014 and was tasked with remodeling stores and strengthening the company\u2019s online presence to better compete with Amazon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Target has also faced growing pressure from competitors like Walmart and Costco, and has struggled in recent years \u2014 especially in categories like home goods and apparel, notes<\/a> CNN.<\/p>\n

Michael Fiddelke, a 20-year Target veteran employee who began as an intern and most recently served as COO, has been named CEO. CNN notes that Fiddelke was selected from a \u201cstrong list of external and internal candidates\u201d and described by Cornell as the \u201cright candidate to lead our business back to growth,\u201d CNN reports.<\/p>\n

Cornell will transition to the role of executive chairman, while Fiddelke will officially take over as CEO on Feb. 1, 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is clear that Michael is the right leader to return Target to growth, refocus and accelerate the company\u2019s strategy, and reestablish Target\u2019s position as a leader in the highly dynamic and fast-moving retail environment,\u201d Christine Leahy, lead independent director of Target\u2019s Board of Directors, said<\/a> in a statement. <\/p>\n

\u201cMichael\u2019s tenure gives him unmatched enterprise insight and a base of strong team trust,\u201d she continued. \u201cBut what sets him apart is how he combines those strengths with a \u2018fresh eyes\u2019 mindset, challenging the status quo to evolve how the business operates, differentiates, and delivers long-term value,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since 2020, Target has partnered with the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs (RICE) to support small business founders…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234524,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[45,49,48,137],"class_list":{"0":"post-234523","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-entrepreneurship"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}