The Target boycott cost more than anyone expected — and the CEO was blindsided

The Business Insider reports:

Target triggered a nationwide boycott last year with a single blog post — and it turns out the message was as big of a shock to the company's CEO as it was to some shoppers.

The blog post, published in April 2016, publicized a policy that said transgender customers were welcome to use the bathroom or fitting room that matched their gender identity.

"Everyone deserves to feel like they belong," the post said. "And you'll always be accepted, respected and welcomed at Target."

Target CEO Brian Cornell never approved the post and found out about it only after it was published, according to The Wall Street Journal.

He later told colleagues that he wouldn't have approved the decision to "flaunt" the policy and that the backlash was "self-inflicted," The Journal reported.

The courage of Target's leftist values.