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Target requires workers to smile at customers in hopes of boosting sales: Report

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Published  November 10, 2025 2:34pm EST
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FOX 9
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Target logo (file photo) (FOX 9)

The Brief

    • Target is instituting a new "10-4" policy for workers.
    • The policy requires workers to smile, make eye contact with, and wave or greet a customer who comes within ten feet.
    • According to the Bloomberg report, consumer metrics rise when customers are greeted.

(FOX 9) - Target has issued a new directive mandating that workers smile at customers as part of a plan to boost sales headed into the holidays, according to a Bloomberg report.

Target's smiling mandate

What we know:

The new initiative is called the 10-4 program, according to Bloomberg. Under the program, workers are required to smile, make eye contact, and wave or greet a shopper who comes within 10 feet of them. If they are closer, within four feet, the worker is required to ask them if they need help or how their day is going.

The Bloomberg article draws parallels to a long-standing rule for Walmart workers, which carries the same ten-foot smiling requirement.

The backstory:

According to Bloomberg, Target research shows that consumer metrics rose when customers were greeted or acknowledged.

Big picture view:

The new effort comes after Target announced a batch of corporate layoffs last month in Minneapolis and Brooklyn Park – the first major layoff for the company in a decade. The layoffs came two months after the resignation of CEO Brian Cornell amid declining sales and profits for the company.

In August, Target reported decreases in sales and its net income in its quarterly report.

The Source: This story uses information from Bloomberg reporting and previous FOX 9 reporting.

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