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Home Depot’s website no longer mentions DEI.

Hello, it’s Thursday. Amazon has unveiled a robot named Vulcan with the AI-powered ability to feel the items it touches, unlike previous robots used by the company that could only detect or grab an item. But here’s the age-old question: Will it replace workers? Amazon says no, but we’re just going to wait and feel the situation out.

In today’s edition:

—Andrew Adam Newman, Erin Cabrey

MARKETING

Home Depot recently took down the “Diversity, Equity & Inclusion” page from its website (left) and replaced it with a page called “WeAreTHD” that makes no mention of diversity.

Home Depot recently took down the “Diversity, Equity & Inclusion” page from its website (left) and replaced it with a page called “WeAreTHD” that makes no mention of diversity. Wayback Machine, Home Depot

After months of pressure from conservative groups, much of it preceding President Trump’s January demand that all public agencies and private businesses dismantle their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, The Home Depot has quietly removed the section of its website that championed its commitment to DEI.

“We strive to ensure that our company culture maintains a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment so that we can attract and retain the best employees, amplify their unique experiences and ideas, and strengthen the communities where we operate,” begins a recently removed page from The Home Depot’s website with the heading “Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.” “We believe this commitment has been a competitive advantage and key to our long-term success, which is why we continue to build a culture of understanding, acceptance, and appreciation.

The page, available now only through the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, was taken down sometime after March 28, the last of 52 times since July 22, 2022, that the Wayback Machine had saved the page.

The page had been accessible through a “Responsibility” dropdown menu on Home Depot’s website and was called “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.”

Today the dropdown menu is called “Living our Values,” and has been replaced by a page called WeAreTHD. The WeAreTHD page has some of the same links to features about multicultural Home Depot employees as the one it replaced, but doesn’t use the words “diversity,” “education,” or “inclusion” or make even an oblique assertion about the value of DEI.

Far from the first sentence of the removed page’s passionate argument for diversity, the new page begins: “Our culture and our associates provide intangible and hard-to-replicate competitive advantages, which have been key to helping us navigate challenging market conditions.”

Keep reading here.—AAN

From The Crew

STORES

A young woman holding a Target shopping basket shops for plants.

Target.

Target’s foot traffic fell for the third consecutive month since it rolled back its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, but it ended an 11-week slump with two consecutive weeks of modest gains.

Foot traffic was down 3.3% YoY in April, following dips of 6.5% in March and 9% in February, according to data from Placer.ai.

The retailer’s weekly slump began in the first full week after its January 24 announcement that it was eliminating its DEI program, but it finally inched into positive territory the week leading up to Easter that began April 14, with a gain of 0.4% YoY, following with an even wispier gain of 0.1% for the week that began April 21.

Target, which in recent years championed terms like racial justice and social justice and was a full-throated advocate for DEI, surprised many when—just four days after President Donald Trump’s inauguration and one day after he demanded that both governmental agencies and companies dismantle DEI—the company did exactly that.

In retrospect, though, Target’s capitulation was no surprise at all.

Keep reading here.—AAN

STORES

egg aisle at grocery store

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Consumers may be becoming “desensitized” to elevated egg prices, though their shopping behaviors around the high-priced commodities are changing, according to a new survey by Numerator.

Though egg prices have skyrocketed since January, Numerator’s survey of 1,050 egg buyers in April found that fewer consumers said egg prices in their areas were somewhat or very expensive than they reported in a prior version of the survey in January. There’s also a growing gap between what egg consumers say they’ll pay and what they actually pay for eggs. In January, they said they were willing to pay $4.90, and actually paid $4.84 on average per dozen, while in April they said they were willing to pay $5.56, and paid $6.54.

However, consumers are buying eggs less often, Numerator found. The percentage of egg consumers that buy them once a week (36.7%) dropped 4.8 points since January, while those that buy them monthly (19.6%) rose 2.7 points.

Keep reading here.—EC

Together With Hightouch

SWAPPING SKUS

Today’s top retail reads.

Big hit: How Toyota stands to lose $1.3 billion in profits in two months. (the New York Times)

A great deal: Under a new trade agreement, British fashion and beauty brands may be able to build their businesses in India without import duties. (Vogue Business)

Not enough: Why some Hispanic shoppers are pulling back on grocery spending. (CNBC)

Your name in print: Customizable print marketing is just a click away with MOO. Help your brand catch eyes with MOO’s high-quality products, and stamp your logo on merch people will actually wanna use.*

*A message from our sponsor.

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