Is Target owned by a Muslim or based in France? Fact Check

A brief rumour is circulating the Internet that claims US discount store retailer Target is now owned by a Muslim-owned company in France, and “that is where the money goes”.

The vague and brief rumour reads –

TARGET NOW OWNED BY A MUSLIM COMPANY IN FRANCE .THAT’S WHERE OUR MONEY GOES.

Like most large retailers, Target have had no shortage of rumours spread across social media attacking their values and patriotism. In fact this rumour is more than likely a much redacted version of a viral message that spread back in 2013 that reads –

TARGET STORES ARE NOT YET IN CANADA, HOWEVER THEY ARE SLATED TO
OPEN A LOT OF STORES IN MARCH OR APRIL OF 2013.(they are here already)
APPARENTLY THEY WILL BE TAKING OVER THE ZELLERS STORES. TARGET IS LOOKING
FOR NEW AREAS AS THEY ARE GETTING A VERY
BAD RECEPTION IN THE STATES MAINLY DUE TO THEIR NON-CHRISTIAN ATTITUDES.
TARGET STORES HEAD OFFICE IS IN FRANCE. THE OFFICE IS NOW MUSLIM
CONTROLLED WHICH EXPLAINS THE NON-CHRISTIAN ATTITUDE. WE SUPPORT THE GIANT
TIGER, CANADIAN TIRE, HOME HARDWARE, ETC. THOSE WHICH ARE CANADIAN OWNED
AND OPERATED.

That message also claims Target is owned by Muslims and based in France.

However the assertion is false. Target’s headquarters is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota ever since it was created back in 1902 by George Dayton (then called Goodfellow Dry Goods.)

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And like many large retailers, Target (TGT) is a publicly held company with a number of institutional shareholders, the largest of which – a quick Internet search reveals – is State Street Corp who hold little over 9% of the total shares at the time of writing. And in terms of ownership, this has been the situation for some time now.

As such, the company is neither based in France nor controlled by Muslims.

As for the assertion in the above rumour that claims “that is where our money goes”, we do not know what the author is trying to state or imply. Perhaps they are playing into the long running conspiracy that the money made by adding a halal certification to food products goes overseas to fund ISIS. But who knows.

Either way, this rumour is just as false as it is fleeting. It’s just the latest of an endless string of online nonsense aimed at promoting lies to provoke hatred and suspicion at other religions of cultures. We don’t recommend circulating it.