Holiday shoppers were in forgiving spirits Saturday as they packed Twin Cities Target stores, largely undeterred by the company's giant data breach and praising a 10 percent discount the company offered to appease customers.
"It seems like they're handling it well," said Kymm Pollack of Minneapolis as she and her daughter stocked up on holiday gifts and supplies at the Target in St. Louis Park.
On the last Saturday before Christmas, that kind of goodwill was a holiday blessing for Minneapolis-based Target Corp., after the data theft was revealed Wednesday.
Since then, the nation's No. 2 retailer was blasted by irritated customers on social media for the lack of information or response to concerns, and threatened with lawsuits after hackers got 40 million customers' credit or debit card information — one of the largest known U.S. data breaches. The breach, which is under investigation by the Secret Service and Target's own technical staff, affected customers who shopped at Target from Nov. 27 to Dec. 15.
But on Saturday, it looked like business as usual at local stores, with one west metro Target scrambling to restock an empty line of shopping carts in the afternoon. Many customers said they wouldn't alter their shopping habits and even spent more at Target because of the discount.
"That's a nice bonus," Pollack said after buying items she had been holding off on, such as an iPad keyboard thanks to the $30 she said she saved from the discount.
The discount will be available at stores across the country through Sunday. Target reiterated Saturday that cardholders won't be held financially responsible for fraud in their accounts.
The estimated 2 million JPMorgan Chase & Co. customers who used debit cards at Target stores during the recent security breach, however, will be limited in their use of their cards, the bank said Saturday. According to Reuters, the bank will limit card use to cash withdrawals of $100 a day and purchases totaling $300 a day as a precaution.