Why Gays’ Anger Toward Target, Best Buy Should Worry Shareholders

Target Corp. TGT and Best Buy Co BBY tried to suck up to State Rep. Ron Emmer, a conservative Republican who has a good chance of becoming the next governor of their home state of Minnesota, and it backfired badly. Now, their retailers are scrambling to make amends to gay consumers, who by one estimate have $485 billion in spending power. Whether you think homosexuality is a sin is irrelevant. This is about business. With the economy in a fragile state, the decision by Target and Best Buy donated a combined $250,000 to MN Forward, an organization backing Emmer who opposes gay marriage, is stupid. Gays are not just a good market, they are a great one. Here are some demographics about the market which would make any retailer drool courtesy of MYGAYWEB.com: -Over twice as likely as national index to be professionals or managers -Average household income over $85.4K -Are 3.4 times more likely to have household income over $250K -65 percent identify themselves as having to have the “latest” -68 percent upgrade to a product’s latest model -77 percent “believe in indulging in themselves” -57 percent “prefer to buy top of the line” To read the rest, head over to 247WallStreet.comMarket News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

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