AT WHAT COST

How Minnesota Taxpayers Subsidize Big Box Stores Poverty Wages

MINNESOTANS FOR A FAIR ECONOMY NOVEMBER 2013

INTRODUCTION A full-time worker at these wages earns less than $18,500 well below the poverty line and not nearly enough to provide food, housing, health care, transportation and other basic needs for their families.

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is the single most lucrative day of

the year for retail department stores. Last year, retail stores took in over $11 billion just on Black Friday,1 and about $22 billion over the four day weekend beginning on Thanksgiving.2 Thanksgiving and Black Friday kick off the holiday sales season which accounts for 20 percent of the retail industrys total annual sales.3 Some stores can make up to 40 percent of their annual sales during this period.4 The Black Friday weekend is the cornerstone of the holiday season, accounting for almost 9 percent of all sales during the season.5 The two largest retailers in Minnesota and in the U.S., Wal-Mart and Target, both posted record profits last year of $17 billion6 and $3 billion7 respectively, and the CEOs of both companies each received over $20 million in compensation.8 However, not all Team Members or Associates shared in the companies prosperity. The average hourly wage of a Wal-Mart sales associate is just $8.81.9 The average pay for cashiers at Target is $8.10/hour, while the pay for sales floor team members is only slightly higher -- $8.34/hour.10 The situation is not much different at other retail stores. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the typical retail sales person earns just $21,000 per year. Cashiers earn even less annual pay of just $18,500. These are the men and women who make Black Friday possible by going without sleep to work the long, overnight shifts, and handle irate customers who are frustrated after waiting in line for hours for deals that sell out before they even get in the store. A full-time worker at these wages earns less than $18,500 well below the poverty line and not nearly enough to provide food, housing, health care, transportation and other basic needs for their families.11 However, over half of the workers in these positions at Target and Wal-Mart dont even earn this much because they are involuntarily part-time.12 Benefits are also scarce for retail department store workers who say that the health plans are too expensive or inaccessible. Only about half of WalMart associates are covered by the companys health plan,13 while only about a third of Target store team members participate in the companys health plan.14 The combination of poverty wages and no benefits, often coupled with part-time hours, means that many of the families of retail store workers must rely on taxpayer-funded safety net programs to make ends meet.

AT WHAT COST: How Minnesota Taxpayers Subsidize Big Box Stores Poverty Wages

MINNESOTA

Nationally, working families make up nearly three-quarters of enrollments

in major public benefits programs.15 For many workers, their jobs pay so little that their paychecks dont cover even their basic necessities. Low wages not only harm workers and their families they cost taxpayers. When Big Box retail employees are unable to afford the basic necessities of life taxpayers pick up the tab for the public benefit programs that workers need in order to get by. Based on the utilization rates by working families of Medicaid, Food Stamps, the Earned Income Tax Credit and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, we estimate that over 20,000 Big Box department store employees in Minnesota are enrolled in one of these four public assistance program for themselves or family members, at a cost of over $150 million a year to taxpayers.16 Included in this total is $44.7 million a year that taxpayers pay to help almost 6,000 Target employees in Minnesota who must rely on public assistance and $40.6 million a year to help 5,300 Wal-Mart employees in Minnesota.

EMPLOYER

MN WORKERS STORES IN MN RECEIVING PUBLIC ASSISTANCE 5,85017 5,31119 1,55420 1,48521 1,02022 93023 89724 86425 79626 78827 57828 45029

$
COST TO TAXPAYERS $44,752,500 $40,628,385 $11,888,100 $11,360,250 $7,803,000 $7,114,500 $6,862,050 $6,609,600 $6,089,400 $6,028,200 $4,421,700 $3,442,500

TARGET 75 WAL-MART 6318 MENARDS 37 HOME DEPOT 33 JC PENNEY 34 MACYS 12 BEST BUY 23 KOHLS 24 MARSHALLS/ TJ MAXX 26 KMART 21 LOWES 11 SEARS 12

We estimate that over 20,000 Big Box department store workers in Minnesota are enrolled in some form of public assistance program either for themselves or family members, at a cost of over $150 million a year to taxpayers.

Big Box Employees on Public Assistance in Minnesota

AT WHAT COST: How Minnesota Taxpayers Subsidize Big Box Stores Poverty Wages

SUBSIDIZED HEALTH CARE The low wages, combined with involuntary parttime hours and no benefits, mean that the families of many Big Box retail workers must rely on taxpayer-funded safety net programs to make ends meet.

Even for full-time workers, the low wages paid by Big Box retail stores arent

enough to cover the basic necessities for many workers. The low wages, combined with involuntary part-time hours and no benefits, mean that the families of many Big Box retail workers must rely on taxpayer-funded safety net programs to make ends meet. In state after state, Wal-Mart, Target, and other Big Box retailers are among the employers with the most employees receiving public assistance. This shifting of labor costs on to the taxpayers amounts to a public subsidy for Big Box corporate giants and provides an unfair financial advantage over others.

MASSACHUSETTS
In 2010, over 4,300 Wal-Mart employees in Massachusetts, a quarter of the companys total workforce in the state, used subsidized health care for themselves or family members, costing taxpayers $14.6 million. Over 2,600 Target employees, more than a third of the companys Massachusetts workforce, 30 used subsidized care, costing the state $8.3 million.31 Big Box retail chains made up ten of the thirty companies with the most employees on Medicaid in Massachusetts.

RANK BY TOTAL COST 1 4 8 14 16 19 20 24 25 27

EMPLOYER WAL-MART TARGET HOME DEPOT MACYS TJ MAXX KOHLS MARSHALLS LOWES SEARS/ KMART BEST BUY

EMPLOYEES USING SUBSIDIZED CARE 4,327 2,610 1,929 1,723 1,027 969 900 826 1,052 772

COST FOR EMPLOYEES & COVERED DEPENDENTS $14,602,933 $8,325,571 $5,678.420 $4,059,919 $3,280,228 $2,743,794 $2,648,489 $2,211,397 $2,124,144 $1,909,951

Retail Employers in Massachusetts with Largest Costs of Subsidized Care

AT WHAT COST: How Minnesota Taxpayers Subsidize Big Box Stores Poverty Wages

NEW JERSEY
In New Jersey, Wal-Mart and Target are the top two employers with the most employees enrolled in the states Medicaid program, followed by many of the same Big Box retail stores as on the above Massachusetts list. 32

RANK BY TOTAL COST 1 2 3 5 6 12 14 18 23 28

EMPLOYER WAL-MART TARGET LORD&TAYLOR TOYS R US KMART KOHLS HOME DEPOT SEARS JC PENNEY MARSHALLS

EMPLOYEES ENROLLED 2,306 1,199 1,008 771 746 565 487 456 373 328

SPOUSE/ TOTAL DEPENDENTS ENROLLED ENROLLED 4,993 7,299 2,379 3,578 1,945 2,953 1,513 2,284 1,646 2,392 1,120 1,685 1,188 1,675 854 1,326 733 1,106 580 908

Retail Employers in New Jersey with Most Employees Receiving Subsidized Care

WISCONSIN
In Wisconsin, over 3,200 Wal-Mart employees are enrolled in Badger Care, the states Medicaid program, accounting for a total of 9,200 enrollees including the children and adult dependents of these employees. Six other Big Box retail stores were also among the employers with the most employees receiving subsidized care. 33

#
RANK 1 4 11 15 27 34 46 EMPLOYER WAL-MART MENARDS TARGET KOHLS KMART HOME DEPOT SEARS EMPLOYEES ENROLLED 3,216 784 562 508 278 242 217

TOTAL ENROLLED INCLUDING ADULT DEPENDENTS & CHILDREN 9,207 2,245 1,592 1,340 772 663 580

Retail Employers in Wisconsin with Most Employees Receiving Subsidized Care AT WHAT COST: How Minnesota Taxpayers Subsidize Big Box Stores Poverty Wages 6

OTHER PUBLIC ASSISTANCE In Ohio, almost 15,000 Wal-Mart employees receive food stamps.

Most state reporting has only included data on Medicaid and not other public

assistance programs. In addition, the data has only reflected the actual enrollment in the Medicaid programs. The number of Big Box employees and dependents who are eligible to participate is likely much higher. It is clear that Wal-Mart, Target, and other Big Box retail store employees must also rely on additional public benefits. For instance, in Florida, over 9,000 Wal-Mart employees receive food stamps.34 In California, a study found that the average Wal-Mart worker required $730 in taxpayer-subsidized healthcare and $1,222 in other types of public assistance, such as food stamps and subsidized housing per year to get by.35

OHIO
In July 2013 the Dayton Daily News obtained data from the state Department of Jobs and Family Services showing that Wal-Mart had more employees or household members on food stamps (14,684) or Medicaid (14,056) than any other company in the state. Target was 11th for most employees or family members on Medicaid (2,479) and food stamps (2,383).36 The number of Wal-Mart employees or household members in Ohio on public assistance almost doubled from the previous five years, and it was not related to an overall increase in employees. There was a 74 percent increase in the number of Wal-Mart employees receiving food stamps and a 95 percent increase in the number enrolled in Medicaid, while Wal-Marts total employment in the state declined by 10 percent during this period. 37

#
RANK 1 14 16 21 33 29 27 28 40 EMPLOYER WAL-MART TARGET LOWES SEARS JC PENNEY K-MART KOHLS HOME DEPOT MACYS EMPLOYEES & FAMILY MEMBERS ENROLLED 17,679 2,602 2,470 2,155 1,631 1,686 1,876 1,874 1,481 RANK 1 13 17 20 26 27 29 39 40 EMPLOYER WAL-MART TARGET SEARS LOWES KMART HOME DEPOT KOHLS JC PENNEY MACYS

#
EMPLOYEES & FAMILY MEMBERS ENROLLED 14,684 2,201 1,860 1,787 1,546 1,546 1,494 1,256 1,217

Ohio Medicaid Enrollment - January 2012

Ohio Food Stamps Enrollment - January 2012

7

AT WHAT COST: How Minnesota Taxpayers Subsidize Big Box Stores Poverty Wages

OTHER PUBLIC ASSISTANCE

WISCONSIN
In a report earlier this year, the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce estimated that a single 300 employee Wal-Mart Supercenter store in Wisconsin costs taxpayers between $900,000 and $1.7 million per year or $3,000 to $5,800 per employee.38 The lower estimate assumes that only those workers enrolled in Badger Care also enroll in other taxpayer-funded programs. The upper estimate assumes that an additional quarter of a stores employees enroll in other taxpayer-funded programs.

PUBLIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

LOW-END ESTIMATE

UPPER-END ESTIMATE

Free & reduced price lunches

(under the National School Lunch Program)

$25,461 $12,938 $155,406 $72,160 $251,706 $11,414 $96,007 $279,450

$58,228 $29,588 $355,350 $165,000 $251,706 $26,100 $219,528 $639,090

Free & reduced-price breakfasts (under the School Breakfast Program) Subsidized housing assistance
(Section 8)

When Big Box retail employees are unable to afford the basic necessities of life taxpayers pick up the tab for the public benefit programs that workers need in order to get by.

Earned Income Tax Credit Medicaid Enrollment under Badger Care Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(formerly Food Stamp program)

Wisconsin Shares Child Care Subsidy

TOTAL

$904,542 $1,744,590

AT WHAT COST: How Minnesota Taxpayers Subsidize Big Box Stores Poverty Wages

INVOLUNTARY PART-TIME WORK Widespread practices of involuntary part-time work and unstable scheduling by Big Box department stores push the incomes of retail workers even lower.

Widespread practices of involuntary part-time work and unstable scheduling

by Big Box department stores push the incomes of retail workers even lower. Nationally the number of involuntary part-time retail workers (those who would rather have full-time hours) has increased 144 percent from 644,000 in 2006 to 1.5 million in 2010. 39 The retail industry has embraced just-in-time computerized scheduling systems, which are designed to cut costs by matching staff size to customer traffic hour by hour. This gives managers increased flexibility, but for workers it means unpredictable schedules that vary from week to week and even day to day. Retail workers are expected to keep their schedules open in case they may be needed and to call in on the days theyre scheduled to see if they should come to work that day.40 These scheduling systems allow Big Box stores to manage a large part-time labor force working short shifts that can easily be changed.41 According to data that Wal-Mart reported to the Partnership for a Healthy America regarding its newly built or expanded/remodeled stores providing fresh groceries in food deserts, more than half of the 6,700 new employees hired to work in these stores were hired on a part-time basis.42 Target has said at different times and in different settings that part-time employees make up between 55 percent-80percent of its retail workforce. Target said that 55 percent of the workers at a proposed Supercenter in San Rafael, California would be part-time. However, a Target human resource manager told the San Rafael City Council that on average 65 percent of team members were part-time.The companys Developer Guide Edition 2.11 says that approximately 80 to 85 percent of employees per store are part-time.43

AT WHAT COST: How Minnesota Taxpayers Subsidize Big Box Stores Poverty Wages

BIG BOX RETAIL STORES USE OF CONTRACTED CLEANING COMPANIES

Its not just workers employed directly by Big Box retail stores who are paid

poverty wages. In order to cut costs and avoid responsibility, many Big Box stores often contract out their janitorial work. There is fierce competition among the janitorial companies for these contracts, with each company trying to underbid the other. Since labor is by far the largest and most costly expense in a cleaning contract, the company with the lowest labor costs tends to win the contract. In some cases, the janitorial companies try to reduce their labor costs with practices such as paying below minimum wage or not paying overtime. A number of the companies that clean Big Box stores in Minnesota have been the subjects of lawsuits and Department of Labor investigations for not paying their workers the overtime wages they earned. Diversified Maintenance, which is based in Florida, is the largest janitorial service provider to Target, with contracts covering over 600 stores nationwide.44 Earlier this year, the company settled a lawsuit for $675,000 that had been filed by workers in Minnesota alleging that: Employees regularly worked 56-60 hours a week without full overtime pay. Employees were required to work seven days a week six days under their own name and one day under a ghost name. This is not an isolated case. In the last ten years, Diversified has settled at least nine private lawsuits as well as six investigations by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), all alleging violations of minimum wage and overtime laws. One of the DOL investigations in Minnesota found that not only did Diversified require employees to work seven days a week without any overtime pay, but Diversified also held new employees pay as a deposit that they would receive when they left the company. 45 Unfortunately, these problems pervade the retail janitorial industry. Other cleaning companies with which Twin Cities Big Box stores contract have also been the subjects of similar lawsuits and Department of Labor investigations for not paying their workers the overtime wages they earned.

In order to cut costs and avoid responsibility, many Big Box stores often contract out their janitorial work.

AT WHAT COST: How Minnesota Taxpayers Subsidize Big Box Stores Poverty Wages

10

BIG BOX RETAIL STORES USE OF CONTRACTED CLEANING COMPANIES In some cases, the janitorial companies try to reduce their labor costs with practices such as paying below minimum wage or not paying overtime.
Prestige Maintenance, based in Plano, TX, also cleans Target stores in Minnesota. In 2009 the company settled a lawsuit brought by sixteen of it workers who claimed the company owed them overtime pay. The workers who brought the lawsuit cleaned Target stores in Maryland overnight from 10:30 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. every night.46 Prior to the lawsuit, Prestige Maintenance was investigated by the Department of Labor at least three times, resulting in more than 400 violations for failing to pay overtime to workers in Minnesota, Florida, and New York. 47 The way in which Target drove the prices down so low in its janitorial contracts came to light in a lawsuit brought by cleaning workers in Texas. Target would conduct three rounds of bidding in which its cleaning contractors had to submit bids for Target stores. Target controlled the bidding process in way that pitted its cleaning contractors against one another, forcing them to underbid each other. Target structured this bidding process to consist of three rounds with a rule that each cleaning contractor could submit a lower bid but not a higher bid in each successive round. 48

AT WHAT COST: How Minnesota Taxpayers Subsidize Big Box Stores Poverty Wages

11

TAKE ACTION!

Because the pay is so low at Wal-Mart,Target, and other Big Box retail stores,

and the weekly work hours are limited, many of the families of retail workers are unable to make ends meet without taxpayer-funded safety net programs. Medicaid, the Earned Income Tax Credit, Food Stamps, and Temporary Aid for Needy Programs (TANF) enable Big Box retail workers to afford basic necessities like food, shelter, and health care. Poverty wages, unaffordable health insurance, and low work hours come at a public cost. We estimate that it costs taxpayers $150 million a year to provide the above public assistance programs to Big Box retail workers in Minnesota. Raising wages for Big Box retail workers will benefit individual workers, their families and community, and taxpayers. The more that Target and WalMart pay their workers, the less it will cost taxpayers to provide public assistance. Unlike manufacturers that must compete with offshore producers that have lower labor and production costs, Big Box retail stores compete with each other. The low-wage structure of the industry is not due to the competitive global market, but rather a mixture of market conditions and policy changes.49 Pay in the Big Box retail industry could be increased through a variety of means.
1.Target, Wal-Mart, and other Big Box retail stores should pay a living wage. The Minneapolis and St. Paul City Councils have set $14.41/hour as their cur-

rent living wage levels.50 This is almost double what some retail workers are currently paid.
2.The State of Minnesota should raise its minimum wage. Many retail

workers earn close to the minimum wage and would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage.The Minnesota House last year passed HF 92 to raise the minimum wage to $9.50 per hour, indexed to inflation. However, differences with the Senate version of the legislation caused the bill to not make it out of conference committee before the end of session.
3.Target and Wal-Mart should stop interfering with their employees rights to speak out for better jobs Big Box retail employers could listen to

Improving wages and benefits at Big Box retail stores will not only improve the standard of living of lower-income families, it will also reduce the public cost of the poverty wages paid by Target, Wal-Mart, and other Big Box retailers.

their employees calls for change, rather than retaliate against them for speaking out. Last year, a federal judge set aside an unsuccessful unionization election at a Target store in New York state and ordered a new vote, finding that Target managers had intimidated workers and violated federal labor laws.51 Wal-Mart workers report regular aggressive acts of intimidation and retaliation by the company against workers who try to exercise their rights to stand up and speak out for fair treatment and respect at work.
AT WHAT COST: How Minnesota Taxpayers Subsidize Big Box Stores Poverty Wages 12

CITATIONS
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 Retail Foot Traffic UP, sales Slightly Down on Black Friday, Says ShopperTrak, November 24, 2012, press release Retail Foot Traffic Up 8.2 Percent During Black Weekend Says ShopperTrak, Nov. 27, 2012, press release NRF Forecasts Marginal Sales Gains this Holiday Season, Oct. 3 2013 Black Friday shopping hits a new record, Emily Jane Fox, CNN Money, Nov. 28, 2012 ShopperTrak, Nov. 27, 2012 Wall Street Journal, Market Watch, Annual Financials for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Target 2012 Annual Report Target 2013 Proxy Statement and Walmart CEOs Pay Jumps 14.1 Percent to $20.7 Million, Huffington Post, Jessica Wohl, April 22, 2013 Jeffrey Goldberg, Wal-Mart Heiresss Museum a Moral Blight, Dec. 12, 2011 Online salary database Glassdoor, Federal poverty level for a family of four is $23,050. The Low-Wage Drag on Our Economy: Wal-Marts low wages and their effect on taxpayers and economic growth US House Committee on Education and the Workforce, May 2013 US House Committee on Education and the Workforce, May 2013 Conditions for Workers at Target: Estimates for a Proposed California Supercenter, Jeannette Wicks-Lin, University of Massachusetts, Political Economy Research Institute, April 2011, Fast Food, Poverty Wages: The Public Cost of Low-Wage Jobs in the Fast Food Industry, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign Department of Urban and Regional Planning and University of California Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education, Sylvia Allegretto, Marc Doussard, Dave Graaham-Squire, Ken Jacobs, Dan Thompson and Jeremy Thompson, October 2013. Allegretto, et al,, October 2013. Based on a total of 19,500 total retail employees in Minnesota, using the figure of 260 employees per Target store Long Island Target Store May Be The First to Unionize, 6/17/11, CBS News, Does not include Sams Club stores Based on a total of 17,703 retail employees in Minnesota, using the figure of 281 employees/store, Wal-Mart Strains to Keep Aisles Stocked Fresh, New York Times, Stephanie Clifford, 4/3/13 Based on a total of 5,180 employees, using the figure of 140 employees/store Menards pushes bigger is better approach, Matt M. Johnson, 4/8/11, Finance and Commerce Based on a total of 4,950 employees in Minnesota, using a figure of 150 employees/store, Big Box retailers to get even bigger, The Florida Times-Union, 12/17/11, Moshay Simpson Based on a total of 3,400 employees in Minnesota, using an average of 100 employees per store. JC Penney has 116,000 employees and 1,104 stores. J.C. Penney Company Inc., 2012 Form 10k 3,100 employees in Minnesota. Macys, Inc. Stores by State, Based on a total of 2,990 employees in Minnesota, using an average of 130 employees per store (145,000 employees and 1,055 stores) Based on a total of 2,880 employees in Minnesota, using an average of 120 employees per store.(140,000 associates and 1,100 stores). Based on a total of 2,650 employees in Minnesota, using 102 employees/store, Marshalls Gets Mixed Reviews, Kamilla Plambeck, 8/5/11, Santa Barbara Independent Based on a total of 2,625 employees in Minnesota, using an average of 100-150 employees/store, Big Box retailers to get even bigger, Florida TimesUnion, 12/17/11, Moshay Simpson, Based on a total of 1,925 employees in Minnesota using a figure of 175 employees/store Big Box retailers to get even bigger, Florida Times-Union, 12/17/11, Moshay Simpson, Based on a total of 1,500 employees using an average of 100-150 employees/store,, Big Box retailers to get even bigger, Florida Times-Union, 12/17/11, Moshay Simpson, New Data Show How Big Chains Free Ride on Taxpayers at the Expense of Responsible Small Businesses Stacy Mitchell, June 7, 2013, Institute for Local Self-Reliance Employers Who Had Fifty or More Employees Using MassHealth, Commonwealth Care, or the Health Safety Net in State Fiscal Year 2010, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Center for Health Information and Analysis, Feb 2013 2011 Annual Report on Access to Employer-based Health Insurance, New Jersey Department of Human services BadgerCare by Enrollment by Employer, Q4 202, Wisconsin Department of Human Services Alan Grayson says more Walmart employees on Medicaid, food stamps than other companies, Tampa Bay Times PolitiFact, Dec. 6, 2012. The Hidden Cost of Wal-Mart Jobs, Arindajit Dube and Ken Jacobs, August 2, 2004 July 22, 2013, Taxpayers subsidizing low-paid employees, Dayton Daily News, Cornelius Frolik, Josh Sweigart Dayton Daily News, July 22, 2013 The Low-Wage Drag on Our Economy: Wal-Marts low wages and their effect on taxpayers and economic growth, US House Committee on Education and the Workforce, May 2013 Discounted Jobs: How Retailers Sell Workers Short 2012, Stephanie Luce, City University of New York CUNY Murphy Institute and Nooki Fujita, Retail Action Project Abercrombie and Fitch, Other Retail Workers Protest Abusive Scheduling, 10/17/12, Good Morning America, Susanna Kim More People pushed into part-time work force Wall Street Journal, Kris Maher, March 8, 2008, The Low-Wage Drag on Our Economy: Wal-Marts low wages and their effect on taxpayers and economic growth, US House Committee on Education and the Workforce, May 2013 , Jeannette Wicks-Lin, April 2011, Diversified Maintenance Systems Hits Several Major Milestones in 2011, July 12, 2011 press release US Department of Labor, Case ID: 1479614, Minneapolis, MN District Office, Local filing number 2007-250-03336 Overtime suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Greenbelt settles for up to $3.8 million, Caryn Timber, The Daily Record, Dec 9, 2009 U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division Case IDs 1183955, 1351131, and 1147129 Juan Isidro Itzep, et al. v. Target Corporation, et al. , Civil Action No. SA-06-CA-0568-XR, United States District Court, Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division Allegretto, et al,, October 2013. City of Minneapolis Living Wage Ordinance/ Business Subsidy Act Programs Employment Requirements and Training Opportunities, and St. Paul Administrative Code, Chapter 98 Union Gets New Election at a Target, New York Times, Steven Greenhouse, May 21, 2012.