Target has announced a new home collection for kids that appeals to boys and girls, the company said Sunday.
The chain's new Pillowfort Home collection does not explicitly define items as “girl” or “boy,” but as “whimsical themes” that “kids can mix [and] match.”
Joshua Thomas, a spokesman for Target, said the new line is a move away from the "matchy-matchy" children's home line of the past.
“There is more opportunity to play with this collection,” Thomas said. “There are more prints and patterns that are universal and could be used in either a boys or girls room.”
The bedding line comes months after the retail chain announced it was moving away from gender-based signage on displays in the toys, bedding and entertainment departments.
"We never want guests or their families to feel frustrated or limited by the way things are presented," Target said in an August statement.
The retailer spent time with parents and kids to find out what items they wanted to see more of in the new collection, Julie Guggemos, Target’s senior vice president of design and product development, said in a statement.
Gugemos told the Minneapolis Star Tribune the new line is a move away from bedding lines that screamed gender stereotypes.
“It was an aisle of pink, fairy princesses, ponies and flowers,” Guggemos told the Tribune. “And for the boys, it was rockets and dinosaurs. Well, you know what? Girls like rockets and basketball. And boys like ponies."
The company reevaluated it's gender specific signage after Abi Bechtel, a mother from Ohio, tweeted a photo in June of gender-based signage at a Green, Ohio, Target that sparked a conversation on gender-based signs in the retail stores.
Customers and Facebook users expressed their views on the statement, signaling satisfaction and disappointment with the retail store.
While some of the patterns and color schemes seem feminine, the company makes a conscious decision not to label the items as specifically for “girls.” The patterns are also more subtle, and items can easily be mixed.
The line features 1,200 items and will be available online and in stores on Feb. 21.
Contributing: Jennifer Calfas
