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Dress codes are no way to fix what is broken
The approach is a deliberate management style. But it is not a strategy for fixing real business problems.
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Target is trying to project a specific image to investors and customers with its wardrobe crackdown: of a company that is reasserting control of a struggling business by exerting greater control over its employees.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Beth Kowitt
In late 2025, Target Corp started giving detailed guidance to store employees about how to act. The 10-4 rule, as the company calls it, directs them to smile, make eye contact and wave when a shopper comes within 10ft. If they come within four, they should engage verbally by asking whether they need help or how their day is going.
Starting this summer, the retailer will start enforcing a new mandate – this one about how employees should dress: blue-coloured denim or khakis with plain red shirts. No more of this pink or maroon business, and large logos and graphics are forbidden – unless worn under a company vest. Store leaders will have to trade in their shorts for pants. (The company is providing a free T-shirt and additional discounts to help employees meet the requirements.)
