Greg Kellogg on Twitter

Janitors picket outside the Nicollet Mall Target store this morning.

Yesterday, janitors who clean Target stores announced a two-day strike motivated by what they regard as inadequate pay and benefits, especially in comparison with what janitors who clean Target's corporate headquarters receive.

SEE ALSO: Black Friday strike at St. Paul Walmart: "If I lose my job it doesn't really bother me that much"

Some janitors who work for the contractors tasked with keeping Target stores clean reportedly make $8.50 an hour with no health coverage and no paid leave.

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Old Man Winter gave the finger to Target's first-quarter bottom line, the company says.

Target's first-quarter earning report is Best Buy-esque, but the company doesn't think you should attribute that to the ongoing decline of big-box retail. Rather, it's winter's fault!

SEE ALSO: Target renames "Orina" sandal after learning word means urine in Spanish [IMAGE]

In the official first-quarter financial report, Target attributes a 29 percent drop in earnings to "soft sales in seasonal and weather-related categories." In other words, since it seemed like spring would never come, people indefinitely delayed buying outdoorsy products and clothing.

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Suffice it to say the "Orina" name wasn't vetted by a Spanish speaker.

Just a week after apologizing for labeling a plus-size dress as "Manatee Gray", Target is again scrambling to relabel a regrettably named product.

SEE ALSO: Ryan Braun's steroid suspension overturned because pee collector thought FedEx was closed

This time, it's about the line of "Orina" sandals available on the website. Target says the name was inspired by the Russian word for "peace," but as any Spanish speaker can tell you, one language's peace is another's pee -- "orina" means urine en Espanol.

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Image by Tatiana Craine

Target was criticized for naming the color of a plus-size dress after this oval-shaped fella.

On Tuesday, the color of a Mossimo dress for sale on Target's website was labeled as "Manatee Gray."

SEE ALSO: Target pulls "stalker" Valentine's Day cards in response to social media outrage

But the exact same color of that dress's non-plus-size version was labeled as "Dark Heather Gray." Oops!

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Even Bullseye, Target's mascot pup, couldn't lift holiday sales from last year.

Target's 2012 holiday sales numbers came in below expectations, our local big-box giant announced this morning, staying "essentially flat" from last year.

See Also:
- Best Buy, Target both make "Top 10 Commercials of the Week" list [VIDEOS]
- Target defends Thanksgiving opening: "There are more volunteers than shifts to fill"
- Target fires ad agency Wieden & Kennedy [VIDEO]
- Target's cheesy employee training script (and Amazon fears) leaked to Gawker

Sales increased just 0.8 percent, from $10.14 billion in 2011 to $10.21 billion for the five weeks ended December 29, 2012. That status quo looks more grim if you remember that last year, Target also had a particularly poor showing in the crucial holiday season -- the Star Tribune called it "dismal" -- lagging behind competitors and causing analysts to question the retailer's strategy.

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Target, at least, doesn't seem particularly concerned about the threatened boycott.

A few days before Christmas, The Journal News, A Gannett-owned newspaper covering Westchester and Rockland counties in suburban New York City, used public information to publish an interactive online map with the names and addresses of NYC-area handgun permit holders.

SEE ALSO: Minnesota law already allows teachers to carry guns in classrooms

Believe it or not, the continued online existence of that map prompted the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association to call for a boycott of Target and Best Buy.

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Pissed off about Michigan reducing the power of organized labor? Shop at Target!

As Michigan's House of Representatives debated and eventually passed two right-to-work bills reducing the power of organized labor today, people turned to Twitter for the latest analysis and developments.

SEE ALSO:
-- Target defends Thanksgiving opening: "There are more volunteers than shifts to fill"
-- Target is actually cheaper than Wal-Mart, according to Bloomberg study

Much of the conversation coalesced around the #savemi hashtag. But something else awaited those who entered #savemi in their Twitter search bar -- namely, an ad from Target urging holiday shoppers to "Make them twice as happy" with buy-one-get-one offers on select toys.

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Image by Tatiana Craine

New commercials from Best Buy are Target have been critically acclaimed.

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Overdrawn Thursday... it's that time of the year again, folks.

SEE ALSO:
-- MN Blue Cross' new anti-obesity ads spark controversy: Do they shame fat people? [VIDEO]
-- Target fires ad agency Wieden & Kennedy [VIDEO]

Which means, among other things, new commercials from retailers, including Best Buy and Target, that would like nothing more than to take some of your money in exchange for holiday gifts.

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Target argues opening on Thanksgiving is a win-win for customers and employees.

Yesterday, a "save Thanksgiving" petition with more than 350,000 signatures was delivered to Target's corporate headquarters in downtown Minneapolis. But if petitioners are hoping Target will reconsider plans for a Thanksgiving evening opening, they're almost certainly in for a disappointment, as last week Target addressed the controversy in a post published on its "A Bullseye View" blog.

SEE ALSO:
-- Target's decision to open Thanksgiving evening sparks renewed "save Thanksgiving" petitions
-- Exhausted Target worker's Black Friday crash defies Star Tribune's bizarre "be happy you have a job" editorial

"When we made the decision to open our doors at 9:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving, the first thing we did was reach out to all of our store leaders and ask them to have discussions with their team members and seek volunteers wanting to work," Tina Schiel, executive VP, is quoted as saying. "We had so many team members who wanted to work on Thursday that hundreds of our stores are now keeping lists of volunteers who want to work if shifts open up."

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Target's Thanksgiving opening means some workers won't be able to enjoy turkey with their families.

Last year, more than 200,000 signed a petition asking Target to remain closed until later in the morning on Black Friday. This year, the company's announcement that it's following Walmart's lead and opening Thanksgiving evening has fueled an even stronger petition drive, with more than 350,000 signing a petition calling on Target to "save Thanksgiving."

SEE ALSO:
-- Exhausted Target worker's Black Friday crash defies Star Tribune's bizarre "be happy you have a job" editorial
-- Northfield Target employee to deliver "Save Thanksgiving" petition to CEO Gregg Steinhafel

The signatures will be delivered to Target Corporate headquarters at 11 a.m. this morning by petition author Casey St. Clair, a Target employee of six years from Corona, California.

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