Pink for girls, blue for boys?

Not with new bedroom

designs for any kid
By Star Tribune, adapted by Newsela staff
03.02.16
Some of Target's latest products with a gender-neutral approach toward
children's home decor are displayed at the company's downtown headquarters
in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Jan. 29, 2016. Photo: Elizabeth Flores/Minneapolis
Star Tribune/TNS

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. Last fall, Target took its first baby steps toward stores with
fewer gender-specific items. It took down boys and girls signs in toy and children's
bedding aisles.
Now, Target is taking it further with a new kids home decor brand that blurs the lines
between what is for girls and what is for boys. The new Target brand, Pillowfort, began
hitting stores this month. It replaced another longtime Target brand, Circo. Target is
making big changes to the kids' department as the store looks to take back its style
edge.
It was an aisle of pink, fairy princesses, ponies and flowers, Julie Guggemos, Targets
senior vice president of design and product development, said of Targets current
offerings for childrens bedrooms. And for the boys it was rockets and dinosaurs. Well,
you know what? Girls like rockets and basketball. And boys like ponies.
Who are we to say what a childs individual expression is? We really wanted to develop
a collection that would be universal.

Astronauts, Alligators Up For Grabs

There will still be pink and blue found in Pillowfort products, just less of it. The prints and
patterns are more open-ended: trees, arrows, astronauts and bicycles. Plus, themes
that traditionally have been more gender-specific, such as basketballs, hearts and
alligators, are more up for grabs with colors such as white, black and yellow.

Guggemos showed off some of the new products at Targets headquarters in

Minneapolis, Minnesota. She picked up items that can appeal to either gender, such as
pillows in the shapes of a cactus and an octopus.
All of this right here is gender-neutral, she said, gathering up about half of the
bedsheets. This could go boy or girl.

Toy Aisle Signs Changed First

The people who run Target say they did not start Pillowfort with a gender agenda in
mind. Rather, they say, the approach is being driven by customers.
It gets back to listening to mom, understanding what shes looking for from Target and
making sure were delivering the products, Target CEO Brian Cornell said.
It was customer feedback in the form of social-media posts criticizing Targets genderbased signs that initially led Target to rethink those aisle signs. Target's move was
greeted with cheers by many. Still, it was also met with boos from some who said there
is nothing wrong with more traditional gender activities. Others complained that the
gender-based signs helped guide them to buy appropriate gifts. To answer that concern,
Target will still have girls and boys bedding search terms on its website when Pillowfort
launches. However, many products will show up in both groups.
Theyre making bold moves, said Carol Spieckerman, an expert on shopping brands.
The changes Target is making cannot be done without leaving some people out, she
said.

Kids Wanted Different Choices

When creating Pillowfort, Target found that the desire for more colors and patterns that
could be for either gender was common. It was a theme Targets designers and
researchers heard again and again.

They saw it reflected in the collages they asked kids to create of their ideal bedrooms.
They heard it from families when they visited customers homes in Chicago and Los
Angeles. They heard it from parents who asked Target to make colors less genderspecific. They saw it when they held a kids fair and asked them to choose their favorite
patterns.
Girls were picking prints that the boys picked and vice versa, Guggemos said. Theyre
not afraid to express who they are. We picked up on that right away and decided we
were getting in our own way a little bit with some of those paradigms Its time to
change.

Pink for girls, blue for boys? Not with new

bedroom designs for any kid
Day 4: Day 1 Read,Annotate (write in the margins: questions, circle
unknown words, connections, main idea of each paragraph, etc. ),
andSummarizethe article.
Week 4, Day 2: Re-read, Annotate using a new color to find the answer
to each question. Next to the text annotation, write the question number.
Answer the questions on a new page in complete sentences.
1. Which paragraph from the introduction [paragraphs 1-4] BEST summarizes the
article's main ideas? Provide your reasoning.
2. Describe Target's goals for its new brand? Provide evidence from the text.
3. According to the article, why does Target think the new brand will be popular?
4. What text structure or text structures help organize this article (e.g.
narrative, compare/contrast, cause and effect, claim and supports...)?
Give examples from the text to support your answer.

Week 4 Day 3: Re-read the article. Annotate with two different colors
the Pros and Cons of Targets universal collection. Use a T-Chart or a
Venn Diagram to organize your work.
Prompt: What are the pros and cons of Targets universal
collection? According to the article why will the line be
successful?
Week 4, Day 4: Writing Piece: Re-read the article, Annotate using a
new color to find evidence to answer the question, andCite evidence
from the article to support you answer.Write Multiple Paragraphs.
Prompt: What are the pros and cons of Targets universal
collection? According to the article why will the line be
successful?