Minneapolis based major retail store Target has canceled two major forward thinking projects as its stock price hit its lowest mark since October 2014.
Breitbart News reported that Target announced the cancellation of the two projects Thursday at the close of business.
One of these projects was a so-called “Store of the Future” in which robots would pick items out for customers from a warehouse, and have them ready at checkout in the smaller storefront. The cancellation of this project was so sudden that it even caught the lead developer off guard, reports recode.net.
Target issued a statement claiming that these cancellations are part of the regular course of business.
“At Target, we regularly pause to evaluate our business and have to make tough choices about where our company is best served to invest our time and resources,” reads the statement, reports recode.net, “We recently made some changes to the innovation portfolio to refocus our efforts on supporting our core business, both in stores and online, and delivering against our strategic priorities. Target remains absolutely committed to pursuing what’s next.”
The other project canceled was an internal startup labeled “Goldfish.” Recode.net reports that this would have been a software platform that could have developed into an open marketplace. Retailers other than Target could have sold their goods via this program. Target was initially hoping to first use the platform as a fashion site with a social media feel.
The company’s price has continued a downward trend since it announced its transgender bathroom policy. The company did see a value bump over the holiday season, but it was less strong than expected.
Target’s stock price was at an all-time high of $83.98 on April 19 of last year, the day they announced the transgender bathroom policy. A boycott was organized against Target as a result of that policy, and the company’s stock price hit $63.42 on February 6, just before the project cancellations were announced. This is the lowest price for Target since October 2014.
