Target, SAS cancels NRF plans for super spreader event amid COVID outbreak

Shoppers carts are wheeled outside a Target Store during Black Friday sales in Brooklyn, New York.

Target, which had at least five executives slated to attend, said it had reduced team travel and its execs, including President of Target Foundation Amanda Nusz, would now host virtual sessions. SAS, which sponsored at least eight sessions, announced on Twitter that it was also participating virtually.

The National Retail Federation's NRF Big Show is the latest major convention to push forward with plans that could lead to a potential super spreader event, as the Omicron variant of COVID 19 has been ripping through New York.

Nearly 70 attendees, including some Samsung executives, tested positive for the virus at Consumer Electronics Show CES last week. It wasn't clear whether they had contracted the virus at the convention.

One Twitter user said he was canceled from his NRF plans after contracting COVID 19 at the consumer electronics event.

NRF requires conference attendees to show proof of vaccination and wear masks. Along with COVID 19 rapid tests, masks N 95 and KN 95 will be distributed.

As we move from the Pandemic to endemic - environment in which we say life can and should go on, there is going to be friction as we adjust. NRF chief executive Matthew Shay said in a LinkedIn post that this year s show is a step forward and we believe it is a necessary and meaningful one.

Phil Granof, chief marketing officer, said NewStore is hosting a booth but dialing back external activities for the retail show. The number of employees at the conference is 20 from 40 in the previous years, because of the cancellation of networking dinners, one-on-one meetings, and halving the number of employees at the conference.

Granof said that as larger companies pull out there is less competition for attention. Big corporations are not the only ones that are cancelling plans. The platform for gaming said it dropped out after taking into account the current case numbers and employee and vendor comfort level. I cancelled my plans last week. It was missed two years in a row after 15 yrs. This year would have been my 17th, said ShiSh Shridhar, global retail head of Microsoft for Startups, on Twitter.

In December, NRF released its updated COVID protocols, which ensured the conference had the green light to go on with 25,000 planned attendees and 900 exhibitors. By January 12, the NRF said there were 15,000 confirmed attendees and 750 vendors.

Granof said that the conference's attendance falls, so the conference becomes safer.