Target was banking on Easter to help boost sluggish sales. But then came the church-initiated boycotts of the retailer

During a quarterly earnings call on March 4, Target reported that quarterly net sales declined 3.1%, while in February, when only the first three days were included in the quarter, CEO Brian Cornell stated that there was a “sales decline,” without being specific.

Then Target executives all but led a singalong of “Peter Cottontail” on the call, mentioning Easter five times, specifically the windfall the company expected leading up to the holiday.

“We had record sales [for] Valentine’s Day,” Rick Gomez, Target’s chief commercial officer, said during the call. “That bodes really well for Easter. So we are encouraged by that and looking forward to Easter.”

What may not bode so well, however, is that the week of March 3 (which included Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent) marked the beginning of a national Lenten boycott of Target, which goes through Easter. Spearheaded by Black clergy, the protest highlights that Target, after years of championing racial justice and social justice, rolled back its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) program in January. The protest had a goal of signing up 100,000 consumers to participate; more than 150,000 had signed up when this story was published.

Retail Brew asked Target to comment on the protest and how it might impact Easter sales. In an email response, Emily Bisek, senior crisis communications manager at Target, responded only to, in her words, “affirm that we do not have anything new to share at this time.”

There has been much beard-stroking and teeth-gnashing over whether the one-day February 28 “economic boycott” against numerous companies was effective. But the Target Fast, as organizers refer to the protest, could pack a wallop.

Besides the more than 40-day duration and the sheer number of participants, there’s the matter of Easter. If Target is banking on brisk sales at the same time legions of Christians vow to not shop there until after Easter, it begs the question: Has Target put all its eggs in the wrong basket?

“An insult at the highest level”: Initiated by Jamal Harrison Bryant, senior pastor of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church outside of Atlanta, the protest has a website where participants are encouraged to sign on.

“This is a fast for accountability,” the website states. “A fast for justice. A fast for a future where corporations do not bow to pressure at the expense of marginalized communities.”

The website estimates that Black consumers spend $12 million daily at Target.

“The African-American community has been disrespected after loyal consumerism,” Bryant told Fortune. “For the company to turn its back on us is an insult at the highest level.”

Kevin Brockenbrough, a brand strategist who’s consulted with retailers and brands for more than 25 years, often on what he called “multicultural” campaigns, said the influence of Black pastors was evident during the pandemic, when they urged congregants to forego their hesitancy and get the Covid vaccine.

“When the Black pastors stepped up and said, ‘Get the shot,’ people got the shot,” Brockenbrough told Retail Brew.

He consulted with JC Penney on multicultural campaigns in the past, and the retailer paid particular attention to Easter.

“A lot of the multicultural families were very religious, and part of going to church was showing up in your new Easter clothes,” he said.

Brockenbrough said that Black consumers have more of an affinity for Target than other retailers, owing not only to the company’s prior commitment to racial justice but also to the stores having more of a presence in cities than its biggest competitor, Walmart.

“Walmart is in small, rural areas; Target is in urban areas. Target is where Black people are,” Brockenbrough said. “So for Target to back away from DEI really feels a little bit like a slap in the face.”

With 100 being the average, Target overindexes on shoppers in urban areas at 110, or 38% of its shoppers, according to Numerator; Walmart underindexes with urban shoppers, at 94, or 32% of the shoppers. Walmart has more white shoppers than Target—65% compared to 62% at Walmart—but both have the same percentage of what Numerator calls “Black or African American” shoppers: 14%.

Rabbit hole: Diane Merians Penaloza, doctoral lecturer at the City University of New York’s School of Professional Studies, was dubious about Target’s Easter optimism.

“A lot of their ‘Easter is going to be awesome’ is wishful thinking,” Penaloza told Retail Brew. “Like, if they say it enough times, it will become true.”

While Penaloza believes Target misstepped on DEI, and that it’s taken a toll on the company, she thinks many who’ve stopped shopping there made the decision independent of organized boycotts.

“Do I think the DEI rollback has hurt them tremendously? Profoundly. Absolutely 100%,” she said. “Do I think it’s because of the boycott? No, the boycott doesn’t help, but it’s really people saying, ‘Yeah, not so much.’”

This report was written by Andrew Adam Newman and was originally published by Retail Brew.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com