Our commitment to diversity is anchored in our philosophy that inclusion benefits our business - our associates, suppliers, communities and customers.

Associates
It is important that our company reflects the face of America and the customer base we serve. Approximately 30 percent of our core customers are racial and ethnic minorities, and to understand this diverse customer base we have to be a diverse organization at every level.

Women represent more than 78 percent of our workforce across the company and hold 66 percent of our management-level executive positions. Approximately 49 percent of our associates are racial minorities and represent more than 28 percent of our management teams.

Different perspectives bring tremendous value to our company, giving us an important competitive advantage, and we work hard to ensure our diversity initiatives are linked to and aligned with our recruiting, training and development, retention and succession management efforts.

Suppliers
Our Supplier Diversity program helps us present distinctive assortments of unique merchandise in our stores - setting us apart from the competition and making our stores the "go to" destination for shoppers wanting fresh and exciting assortments.

Additionally, working with a wide spectrum of suppliers helps us support the economic health of the communities where we do business.
In 2007, our purchases from minority- and women-owned businesses totaled approximately $604 million.