Target Has Best Year Since 2005

When you support the TBLGQ community, we will not only reciprocate, but it will benefit your bottom line.

The evilgelicals and right wing peeps have been boycotting Target for their supported TBLGQ policies and stances, and it looks like that boycott has spectacularly failed.

Sales at Target stores grew 5% in 2018.   Its digital sales grew an astounding 31% and the topped it off with an outstanding Christmas season to cap their best year performance wise since 2005..

Target's stock has also risen to $75 a share.

I also believe in supporting people who support my community.   When I needed stuff for my new apartment last July, I got the majority of it from Target.

So what can we learn from this?   If you peddle transphobia and homophobia, it affects your bottom line.    When you embrace your TBLGQ customers, you will be rewarded with loyalty from that customer base.

And besides, Target has better quality stuff.

Transphobia Is Bad For Business- Victoria's Secret Closing 53 Locations

Looks like the controversial comments of CMO Ed Razek have hurt Victoria's Secret's business.

Its parent company L Brands announced Wednesday that 53 locations across North America are being closed because of declining sales and store performance.  The fourth quarter 2018 sales were only $1,849,300 versus the fourth quarter 2017 sales of $2.038, 300 dollars. 

The 2019 store closure numbers are triple their average.   According to Bloomberg, the average is about 15 store closures per year, and 20 were closed in 2018.

Vickie's was having problems before Razek exacerbated the problems by opening his mouth and letting something transphobic come out of it.

That triggered a call for a boycott of the lingerie retailer by the trans community that looks like it is being joined by our allies.

In addition to the problems with Victoria's Secret's sales revenue, the viewership number for the 2018 edition of the Victoria's Secret  Fashion Show have also taken a nosedive.

Only 3.27 million viewers tuned in last year, which are the worst numbers ever for the show ever since it started its broadcast run.    For comparison, in 2017 there were 4.98 million people who tuned in to watch the show.

However, it wasn't all bad business news for Vickie's Secret.   Their online sales went up 8% . 

Wonder if Razek and company are considering adding a few trans and full figured models to the 2019 televised show in the wake of these numbers?    I know a few trans models who would love to rip your runway, but you'll need to call them before they get booked for fall New York Fashion Week

It's once again another concrete example of bigotry being bad for business.

Payless Shoe Source To Permanently Close

Payless Shoe Source for trans women has been for years one of the go to places to find nice fashion forward shoes, boots and sandals in our double digit sizes at a reasonable price.

They went through a bankruptcy in April 2017 in which they closed over 500 stores in the US and emerged from bankruptcy protection 18 moths ago.

But when the Topeka, KS based Payless Shoe Source files for bankruptcy this time, it will close all 2300 remaining stores in the US and liquidate its inventory.

That's bad news for cis and trans women who wear hard to find sizes on the low and high end of the shoe size scale.   Payless shoes can start as small as a size 5 and go up to a size 13 and they do so at reasonable prices. 

Over the last few years they have stepped up the quality of those shoes, with Christian Siriano and Martha Stewart being two of the big names that have deals to sell their shoes lines there..

Payless will unfortunately become another of the big name brick and mortar store chains to die.  Sears is on life support ,and Toys R Us and The Bon-Ton Stores are retailers that have shuttered their doors in the last 12 months.

Looks like when they start the going out of business sale, need to be at my fave locations when the door opens because those 12's and 13's will be going fast.

Thanks To Koncept Kit For My Blogiversary Gift

When January 1 rolls around TransGriot will start its second decade of operation telling it like it T-I-S is in terms of being an unapologetic truth teller in our community and talking about trans issues from a POC trans perspective.

During this tenth anniversary year fro TransGriot people asked me if I wanted to celebrate it with a party or other events.   One of the best things you can do is keep dropping change on that TransGriot  Tip Jar or consider sponsoring it.   I plow much of what I receive back into the the operation of the blog.

One of the things I've wanted and needed to do for a while is not only get TransGriot its own domain name, but also get a logo for it.   Thanks to Houston based Koncept Kit, I accomplished both those tasks.

Economic empowerment of our trans community ranks is important to me as well, and Koncept Kit being a person of color and trans owned firm also appealed to me as well.

It also gave me an opportunity to lead by example and spend my precious T-bills in our community.

So who is Koncept Kit?

Koncept Kit is a Houston media firm that does audio and visual work, photography, videography, web design and logo branding.

Koncept Kit did the artwork for Dr Colt Keo- Meier's trans themed children's book Stacey Is Not A Girl, and the photography and videography for the recent Gender Infinity Conference just to name some of the work they have done here locally.



After being impressed with their professionalism, how they handled that job and observing them do work at other community events,  I tapped Koncept Kit to come up with a logo for my blog.

The game plan is to unveil it by the time my January 1 blogiversary rolls around.  I've seen the new logo and love it.   I think you readers will love it as well.    The best part about the process is I got to spend some of my hard earned T-bills with a trans owned firm.

Thank you Koncept Kit for my TransGriot blogiversary gift to myself, and looking forward to seeing your skills turn my vision of a logo into reality.

Texas Association of Business Formally Opposes HB2 Style Bills

If you;re wondering why I and other TBLGQ Texans and our allies stay and fight the right wing powers that be to make our state better, this is just another example why having angelic troublemakers in the Lone Star State matters.

On Friday the influential Texas Association of Business (TAB) Board of Governors overwhelmingly approved a resolution that states according to TAB president Chris Wallace the TAB opposes 'legislation that is seen as discriminatory and would impact workforce recruitment and/or cause a negative economic impact on the state'.

The 4,300 member Texas Association of Business is our statewide chamber of commerce, and has the ear of conservative politicians in the Lone Star State.

They are nervous in the wake of our transphobic Lt. Governor Dan Patrick (R) statements back in May of wanting to repeat the mistake of the North Carolina GOP to legislatively hate on Texas trans people.  

The TAB is nervous that when the 85th session of the Texas legislature opens in January, Patrick and his GOP colleagues will try to pass an HB2 style bill that will cause the same economic damage to Texas that its blitzkrieged passage in North Carolina has done to their state's economy.

They are trying to prevent that self inflicted Texas GOP legislative idiocy from happening along with Texas Competes, a coalition of 1,100 + Texas businesses and business friendly organizations that are making the case that TBLGQ equality is good for Texas, Texas based businesses and the Texas economy.

North Carolina since the passage of HB2 has suffered an estimated $395 million dollars (and counting) in lost business, conventions, and sporting events, and the NC GOP refuses to take responsibility for their lack of human rights vision.

"We don't want economic fallout here because of legislative action that could be prevented, said Wallace. "We know it's going to be a top issue, and because of that, business has to speak up."

Texas has in 2017 the NCAA women's Final Four scheduled to come to Dallas, the NCAA FBS Championship Game in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, and the 2018 NCAA men's championship game in San Antonio.

All are in jeopardy along with scheduled conventions and other business if Patrick and the Texas GOP persists with their delusional thinking that Texas will not suffer the same fiscal fallout that North Carolina has if they pass anti-trans hate bills or HB2 style legislation.  

The Texas GOP has made hatred of Texas trans people part of their reprehensible 2016 platform, and just as their attempts to legislate bigotry against LGB Texans failed, they will fail against transgender Texans.

And thanks to the Texas Association of Business, Texas Competes and other Texas business leaders who are stepping us to say in a loud and collective voice we don't want the self inflicted economic disaster that is happening in North Carolina to happen in Texas

Thailand's Apple Modeling Agency Opening All-Trans LA Branch

The Bangkok based Apple Modeling Agency back in November decided to open up a branch of their local office there dedicated specifically to promoting trans models.  

Business must be booming, because they are now opening up a trans specific branch office in Los Angeles.

While trans models have had a long distinguished history in the fashion world, we are at a moment in time in which people, designers and corporations are openly soliciting for their services.  

Jazz Jennings is the face for Clean and Clear.  Carmen Carrera has signed with Elite Models and has made clear her desire to become the first trans Victoria's Secret Angel.  . Lea T has signed a deal to become the global face of Redken beauty products, and trans models like Ines Rau, Arisce Wanzer, Geena Rocero, Isis King and Andreja Pejic are popping up on runways from New York to Milan in catalogs and elsewhere..

Apple Model Management LA is set to open under the guidance of Cecilio Asuncion and already has six transgender models on their initial roster and are looking for more. 

“We see trans individuals as beautiful,” says Apple's LA  agency director Cecilio Asuncion. “Our strong commitment to developing them as successful models is never about quantifying or qualifying their gender. It's never a question of if they are women or men, it's about their passion and commitment to being the best possible models they can be.”

So if you are a trans woman  5'8" or taller or a trans man who is 6’ or taller and are interested in being represented by them, you can apply by following the application guidelines at the Apple Model Management website.

 

Application materials and photos may be emailed directly to Apple Model Management L.A. Director Cecilio Asuncion at cecilio@applemodels.com.

H/T  The Advocate

Bigotry Costs You Big Money

One of the lessons that corporations should know but seem to forget at times until it whacks them on their bottom line is that bigotry can cost you big money.

The latest corporation to learn this lesson the hard way is Barilla Pasta chairman Guido Barilla

Barilla, the number one pasta make in Italy that does $3.9 billion euros annually in business made the comments during a recent interview in which he was quoted as saying he and his company will not feature any gay families in their advertisements because he supports a “traditional family.” He then followed up by stating that if someone disagrees, well, they can “go eat another brand of pasta.”

Dude, you are about to learn just how much purchasing power the TBLG community (about $800 billion dollars) has in addition to how much brand loyalty matters. 

Well, the TBLG community and their supporters took Barilla's advice and if they weren't donating his pasta to food banks, it went straight to the trash.   His competitors like Bertolli Germany  took advantage of the bigoted remarks of its rival by releasing ads and making statements to the effect their pasta is for everyone to enjoy.

Hey, I still haven't eaten at Reicher-fil-a Chik-fil-a (and I love their food) ever since Dan Cathy made his jacked up remarks and doubled down on them.

I used to enjoy their commercials.  Now I roll my eyes every time I see one of them because it's a reminder to me of the anti-gay attitudes they wallow in.  Neither am I inclined to spend my hard earned T-bills at companies who donate to organizations that oppress me and my allies.  


Target is still trying to get back in the GLBT  community's good graces as a preferred store after they donated $150,000 to a business group backing a Minnesota GOP gubernatorial candidate in 2011 who was anti-marriage equality.  

The African-American community stopped patronizing Dillard's after racial profiling incidents in Texas were the catalyst for 80 African American shoppers to file suits against the company.   Since 1994 six unarmed customers have been killed after confrontations with their loss prevention security.  Five of those customers have been non-white.  Dillard's was also sued by customers in Mississippi, Kentucky and Georgia on similar racial profiling allegations. In Alabama, eight black women who were patrons of Dillard’s beauty salons sued the company for race-based pricing.


IKEA scrambled to apologize after a commercial was released in Thailand the local trans community considered disrespectful and the Thai Transgender Alliance called them on it.

Guido Barilla recognized that he fracked up, and is now trying to do damage control and apologize.  But it may be a case of too little and too late to get their lost market share back in the BTLG community.  

Once you insult the LGBT community and tell us you don't need or want our consumer dollars, we have long memories.
    
And he and his company are also learning the hard lesson that bigotry costs you big money.

My Family! Providing Children's Books For The LGBT Market

     

When married power couple and business partners Monica and Cheril Bey-Clarke were seeking to become licensed foster parents in New Jersey, they were frustrated by the lack of materials and books available for the children of GLBT parents.  

The couple featured in a recent "Most Powerful Lesbians" issue of Curve Magazine.decided to step in and fill the void of books and materials for kids of all ages and backgrounds.   They sought by doing so to give the children of same-sex parents a sense of normalcy.  Their goal was also to promote the celebration of our differences, the importance of family values and reinforce the morality being taught in the home. 

It didn't hurt that Cheril has been an award winning author, novelist and playwright in the LGBT community for over ten years and Monica has over a decade of experience formulating, creating strategies for and implementing business concepts. 

In 2010 they founded My Family! a retail arm of Dodi Press LLC to provide those books and materials and positive experiences for LGBT parents for generations to come.   The company went international in 2011 and has a website you can purchase their diverse multicultural line of books and products  

As I perused the site and the gender identity section I noted that Cheryl Kilodavis' 'My Princess Boy' is one of the books for sale on their website in addition to others from a wide array of authors that cover the various aspects of the LGBT community and the issues that would impact the children of same-sex, bi and trans parents.

One of them was a trans themed book by writer Monique Costa entitled 'When Leonard Lost His Spots'.  

So for you parents in the LGBT community looking for some quality books and items for your kids and wanting to circulate your TBLG dollars in the community, may wish to surf by the My Family! website and see what they have to offer..

Chrysalis: Lingerie For Girls Like Us

This news broke while I was offline, but I was excited to hear about a first ever line of linerie designed by a girl like us entrepreneur for girls like us.

The perfectly named Chrysalis Lingerie is the first ever lingerie line that is designed for transwomen.   Co-founder Cy Lauz remembered when she had a hard time during her transition finding lingerie and undergarments that suited her particular needs and made her feel pretty, confident and feminine.

“There was nothing that made me feel good about being a trans woman and who I was as a professional and most importantly, who I was as a person,” Lauz says.

Lauz put her fashion styling and interior design talents to work and founded Chrysalis, which is getting major positive buzz inside and outside the trans community. 

It's starting with a basic line of bra and panty ensembles in five colors.   The power-mesh panty is designed to create a seamless look by using a special panel that “tucks us in,” Cy said, while the bra comes with hidden pockets that hold full-cup inserts to create the appearance of a natural bustline.  

The initial product line is versatile enough to work with all body shapes while still the look and feel of traditional feminine lingerie lines. 

Chrysalis Lingerie for now will only be available online and in progressive lingerie outlets that welcome the business of trans women. 

Beyond the basic product line there are long range plans to not only open a brick and mortar store in the New York area but create a Chrysalis Lingerie couture line that incorporates the Chrysalis technical innovations into a line of teddies, shapewear, lingerie and swimwear.





Chrysalis Lingerie has been around since 2010 and is grateful for the fresh round of media exposure and attention.  

Chrysalis Lingerie does have a company Facebook page that you can like and check out for all sorts of fashion and TBLG related posts as we anxiously await the May 1 launch of the e-commerce site.

Hmm, that's just in time for my birthday.   

TransGriot Update: link for the Chrysalis Lingerie website.

IKEA Apologizes For Transphobic Thai Commercial

The Swedish based furniture giant IKEA is one of my fave places to shop for furniture, and it's where I bought much of my furniture for my first apartment back in the 90's.   One of those IKEA pieces I purchased back then at their Katy Freeway store is my current computer desk that has held up quite well through multiple moves.  

IKEA has had a positive reputation in the past for some positive trans inclusive commercials, so it was a shock to me when I read about this IKEA Thailand holiday one the Thai Transgender Alliance was protesting because of the stereotypical way the transwoman was portrayed. 

The commercial shows a couple strolling through an IKEA store when her voice suddenly goes into a masculine range that outs her as trans.  Her date then distances himself from her and eventually runs away from her as she continues to happily shop for IKEA products. 

As Reuters reported in terms of the brewing controversy, "The 20-second commercial shown on YouTube and on Bangkok's trains in December and January entitled 'Luem Aeb' ('Forget to Keep Hidden'), was disrespectful to transsexuals, according to the Thai Transgender Alliance and demanded an explanation from IKEA.





IKEA opened their first store in Thailand in November 2011 and the advertisement was part of a group of commercials for a holiday sale. 

The January 9 Thai Transgender Alliance complaint resulted in conversations with IKEA Thailand marketing officials that resulted in the apology letter the Thai Transgender Alliance posted on their Facebook page.

For those of you who are wondering why that commercial upset our Thai transisters and the international trans community, once again it played upon as the punchline for the humor in the ad the meme that trans women are people you are supposed to be fearful of or embarrassed to be around.  That is dehumanizing to Thai transwomen and their sisters around the globe.

And the dehumanization of transwomen is nothing to laugh at, especially in a commercial   .

The Muppets Strike Back At Fox Noise

Remember the ridiculous assertion that Faux Business news commentator Eric Bolling made that the Muppets were 'communist', 'anti Big Oil' and 'brainwashing kids against capitalism' last month?  

Well, the Muppets have struck back.




And naw, it isn't brainwashing kids to let them know that the almighty business sector at times will stoop to cheating, theft, crony capitalism and unethical behavior in the name of making profits.

Twinkie Maker Filing For Bankruptcy

Was sad to hear about another victim of the recession in terms of Hostess Brands, the makers of Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Ho-Ho's  and Wonder Bread.

Hostess Brands got its start in 1930 as Interstate Baking Company during the Depression.  It also includes the Butternut, Blue Seal and Nature's Own breads and the Dolly Madison snack cake brands in addition to it's iconic Hostess and Wonder Bread and unfortunately is filing for its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.

Hostess and Wonder Bread were iconic parts of mine and many people's childhoods and it would be a shame if we lost this iconic brand. 

The company has been around since 1930 and moved its headquarters from Kansas City to Irving, TX after coming out of its first bankruptcy in 2009.

Definitely need to do my part and eat a few more Twinkies this year to save 19,000 jobs.

If Corporations Are People...

As Mitt Romney and other Republicans like to claim they are, where are the birth certificates?

Tell me who are the parents for Whirlpool?   What hospital was Koch Industries born at?    Who was the attending physician when Chik-Fil-A took its first breaths on the planet?   If Morgan Stanley is a US citizen, is that corporation male or female? 

And let's take it still further.  If corporations are people, and you can tell me their genders and show me their birth certificates, then under DOMA two male corporations and two female corporations can't get married (or merge) in the US and many other countries..



If corporations are people, should be easy for y'all conservafools to answer those questions and show us the supporting documentation in terms of the birth certificates and marriage certificates..

Where's Orly Taitz or Donald Trump when you need them? 

And oh yeah, since corporations are people, we want to see the long form birth certificates of these corporations.   No facsimiles or copies will be accepted..