Major nationwide retailer backtracks on DEI as it slashes funding for Pride events after 'customer disappointment'
Tractor Supply Company has backtracked on its DEI initiatives after facing 'disappointment' from its conservative customer base.
The retailer, which offers home improvement and gardening equipment across over 2,400 stores nationwide, said last week it was eliminating its diversity, equity and inclusion policies because it 'took feedback (from customers) to heart.'
The move will see the company end its sponsorship of 'pride festivals and voting campaigns', alongside cutting all internal DEI roles and goals.
'We have heard from customers that we have disappointed them,' the company said in a press release, adding that it will 'still ensure a respectful environment.'
Tractor Supply Company has backtracked on its DEI initiatives after facing 'disappointment' from its conservative customer base
The company's DEI rollback comes after several major companies took huge financial hits in recent years after being perceived as going 'woke'.
This included Bud Light losing its position as America's number one selling beer after a partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, and Target facing boycotts over its 'tuck friendly' LGBTQ Pride Month merchandise a year ago.
For Tractor Supply Co., the reverse of its DEI initiatives appears to have been triggered by conservative pushback on social media, led by Republican influencer and failed congressional candidate Robby Starbuck.
Starbuck, a music video producer who ran unsuccessfully for a Congressional seat in Tennessee in 2022, targeted the company in a series of tweets earlier this month.
'It’s time to expose Tractor Supply,' he began one tweet, which racked up almost three million views.
He singled out the company's DEI hiring policies, LGBTQ training for employees, climate change initiatives, and allegedly 'funding sex changes.'
The company's CEO and president Hal Lawton was called out for its DEI initiatives, as well as allegedly 'liking posts attacking unvaccinated people'
The company's DEI rollback comes after several major companies took huge financial hits in recent years after being perceived as going ' woke', including Bud Light's disastrous partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney (pictured) last year
Last year, Target sold 'tuck-friendly' women's bathing suits, sparking calls for a boycott from conservative customers
Starbuck also called out CEO and president Hal Lawton by name, claiming he 'liked posts attacking unvaccinated people.'
He urged his followers to send Tractor Supply Co.'s corporate office's emails and calls to show their disapproval, and to boycott its products.
The Financial Times reported that Starbuck's campaign against the company appeared to have an instant impact, with its share price dipping five percent in the past month.
Starbuck took a victory lap after Tractor Supply Co. changes course, claiming a 'massive victory' as he branded it 'the single biggest boycott win of our lifetime.'
This claim appears exaggerated, considering Bud Light lost a staggering $27 billion in market value following it's Mulvaney fiasco.
Tractor Supply Co. said that its announcement will 'ensure our activities and giving tire directly to our business.'
This will include no longer submitting its internal data to the LGBTQ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign, and ending its carbon emissions targets in favor of land and water conservation.
While some conservatives praised the move, others criticized the company for caving to pressure.
Tennessee State Senator Charalene Oliver said on X: 'Imagine being headquartered in the 9th wealthiest county in the nation while saying you're the "largest supporter" of rural America where poverty is the worst.
'Also choosing hate and bigotry by announcing this the same month of Juneteenth and Pride is nasty work.'
GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis told The Advocate that the move was 'embarrassing.'
'Tractor Supply’s embarrassing capitulation to the petty whims of anti-LGBTQ extremists puts the company out of touch with the vast majority of Americans who support their LGBTQ friends, family, and neighbors,' she said.
'It sends an appalling message, during Pride month, to see a rural staple go out of their way to bring harm to their LGBTQ customers and employees.'
