Target buyer rips retailer’s ‘cheesy’ Christmas decor after firm orders workers to smile in bid to spice up vacation gross sales

Bah, humbug!

Target clients are taking to TikTok to bemoan the shop’s “tacky” vacation decor after the corporate issued new orders to workers to smile and make small speak in a bid to spice up sluggish gross sales.

Content creator Debbie Garces sparked debate on Saturday after uploading a clip of Christmas merchandise at her native outlet, accompanied by the caption: “Either I got older or the Target holiday decor is getting tackier.”

“The stuff is TACKY and cheap this year,” a commenter concurred.

“Tacky at next level,” one other TikTok consumer declared in a separate video, exhibiting the seasonal ornaments on sale at her retailer this yr.

However, different customers clapped again, praising the corporate for his or her 2025 vary.

Many TikTokkers have taken to the app to fawn over Target’s Christmas collaboration with New York designer John Derian, full with classically printed pillows and stockings.

It comes after the retailer issued a brand new directive mandating in-store staff smile and make eye contact and both greet or wave to any shopper that comes inside 10 ft, according to Bloomberg News.

If a buyer steps inside 4 ft, then the service rep is instructed to ask whether they need assistance or how their day goes, the brand new steering mentioned.

The initiative, which is thought internally because the “10-4 program,” is the most recent effort by administration to enhance buyer expertise within the almost 2,000 Target places nationwide within the run-up to the vacation season.

Target’s renewed deal with buyer expertise follows a interval of sluggish gross sales. The retailer reported that comparable gross sales fell 1.9% yr over yr within the second quarter of 2025, together with a 3.2% drop in-store. Digital gross sales, nevertheless, rose 4.3%.

Executives have pledged to speculate about $4 billion this yr in new shops, remodels, expertise, and provide chain upgrades to revive what one analyst referred to as “the Target magic” that when drew loyal customers.

Target’s Chief Stores Officer Adrienne Costanzo advised Bloomberg the corporate is “making adjustments and implementing new ways to increase connection during the most important time of the year.”