Target, Lowe's, among other major companies, respond to protests, call for change

The nation continues to grapple with civil unrest over the killing of George Floyd in police custody. Many leaders across retail, tech and banking are speaking out over the weekend and Monday morning as protests continue. Yahoo Finance's Alexis Christoforous and Emily McCormick share the details.

Video Transcript

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: We have stock futures mostly lower this morning as the nation continues to grapple with the worst civil unrest we have seen in this country in decades. At least 30 cities were hit with massive demonstrations over the weekend over the police custody death of George Floyd, with more than two dozen cities ordering curfews and at least 16 calling in the National Guard. From LA to Chicago to New York, protesters torched vehicles, they smashed windows, and looted businesses.

Now these protests are hammering cities that were already struggling to reopen from the coronavirus-related lockdowns. And many retailers already crippled by the pandemic have now closed hundreds of locations, including Target and Walmart. Emily McCormick has been tracking all of it this morning. She joins us now. Good morning, Emily.

EMILY MCCORMICK: Good morning, Alexis. And as you mentioned, Target was one of the major corporations hit early on by some of the unrest, including lootings and vandalism emerging over the past several days. Now the company is headquartered in Minneapolis and has several dozen stores located in the state of Minnesota. We had CEO Brian Cornell come out with a statement recently saying, quote, "We are a community in pain. The murder of George Floyd has unleashed the pent up pain of years."

Now we've also seen several other retailers adjusting their operations. We had peer big-box retailer Walmart telling Yahoo Finance it closed several hundred stores about an hour early yesterday, but the majority are slated to reopen today. We also had Amazon telling me in a statement that it has scaled back some deliveries and adjusted delivery routes amid the demonstrations.

But aside from these actions, I also want to highlight a statement from another retail CEO-- and that's Marvin Ellison of Lowe's, who issued a more personal response to some of the recent events. He said, quote, "As the father of a young black male, I can only imagine their pain and emptiness," referring to the families of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. And he added, quote, "I have a personal understanding of the fear and frustration that many of you are feeling." So again, really giving a sense of the numerous responses we've received on the corporate front from CEOs and a broad cross-section of industries. Alexis?

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Yeah, Emily, I want to talk more about that because some of those messages are quite personal in the way Marvin Ellison's was at Lowe's. Can you give us a feel for what other corporate leaders are saying? I know we heard from Apple CEO, Tim Cook, and also Goldman Sachs CEO, David Solomon.

EMILY MCCORMICK: That's right, Alexis. So we did get a statement from Apple CEO, Tim Cook. He said to employees that Apple was making donations to a number of groups, including the Equal Justice Initiative, which is a nonprofit committed to challenging racial injustice and ending mass incarceration. Looking also on the tech front, we had Snap CEO, Evan Siegel, include a number of action items in his response to the killing of George Floyd and others-- calls for an American commission to be created to address racial injustice and comprehensive tax reform. He said he's favored a progressive income tax system that would involve higher estate, business, and wealth taxes. And he said in a statement, quote, "In short, people like me will pay a lot more in taxes, and I believe it will be worth it to create a society that benefits all of us," end quote.

And then I also want to take a look at what some leaders of major financial institutions have said. We had Mark Mason, Citi's Chief Financial Officer saying in a quote, "Racism continues to be at the root of so much pain and ugliness in our society-- from the streets of Minneapolis to the disparities inflicted by COVID-19. As long as that's true, America's twin ideals of freedom and equality will remain out of reach."

And then, we also saw David Solomon, Goldman Sachs CEO encouraging employees in his statement to, quote, "Look up and acknowledge what is happening around us and have conversations that may take us outside our comfort zone." Of course, all of these represent just a handful of the statements we've seen in just the past couple of days in a growing chorus of corporate responses. Alexis?

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: All right, Emily, thank you for that.