Target Refuses to Sell ‘Beyonce’ Album

After the surprise release of Beyonce's fifth studio album last week (Dec. 13), Target is refusing to place the Houston native's new self-titled LP on store shelves, but not for the reasons you would think.It's no secret that the digital world is taking over, and because 'Beyonce' dropped exclusively on iTunes, Target executives believe tangible discs will possibly produce low sales.

"At Target we focus on offering our guests a wide assortment of physical CDs, and when a new album is available digitally before it is available physically, it impacts demand and sales projections," Target spokeswoman Erica Julkowski told Billboard.

Target would rather cut its losses and not purchase thousands of copies of the 14-track CD to avoid seeing a negative profit margin.

But while a small portion of the world's population aren't cartwheeling in the street over Queen B's "explicit" soundtrack, others are celebrating the superstar's new No. 1 hit. In fact, a few members of Beyonce's team opened up to Elle to tell the story of how the album was released as such a secret. As the release was a surprise to many, those involved in the project knew they weren't allowed to talk about their work. Most were asked to sign non-disclosure agreements upon arrival to sets.

“Well, people knew things were going on,” said Ty Hunter, Beyonce’s fashion director and confidante who oversaw all 17 music videos. “But the thing is, we’re such a tight-knit family... This is history that has been made!”

No truer words have been spoken considering the singer has earned the fastest-selling album on iTunes with 'Beyonce' and sold more than 820,000 copies in three days worldwide. The first week numbers are in and domestically, she has sold 618,550 units of the LP.