Target Names New CEO Who's Coming in With 'Urgency'

Target CEO Brian Cornell, who helped reenergize the company but has struggled to turn around weak sales in a more competitive retail landscape since the COVID pandemic, plans to step down on Feb. 1. Minneapolis-based Target Corp. said Wednesday that COO Michael Fiddelke, a 20-year company veteran, will succeed Cornell, while Cornell will transition to be executive chair of the board, reports the AP. Cornell, 66, took the helm at Target in August 2014. In September 2022, the board extended his contract for three more years and eliminated a policy requiring its chief executives to retire at age 65.

Cornell said Fiddelke's appointment followed several years of board vetting of both internal and external candidates. Fiddelke has overhauled Target's supply network and expanded the company's stores and digital services while cutting costs. "Mike was the right candidate to lead our business back to growth," Cornell told reporters, adding that Fiddelke "has developed a deeper knowledge of our business than anyone I know."

Fiddelke, meanwhile, told reporters he's stepping into the role with "urgency" to reclaim the company's merchandising authority. "When we're leading with swagger in our merchandising authority, when we have swagger in our marketing, and we're setting the trend for retail, those are some of the moments I think that Target has been at its highest in my 20 years," he said. The change in leadership was announced Wednesday at the same time that Target reported another quarter of sluggish results, reporting a 21% drop in net income in the quarter ended Aug. 2.

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Target, which has about 1,980 US stores, has been the focus of consumer boycotts since late January, when it joined rival Walmart and a number of other prominent American brands in scaling back corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. The retailer's sales also have languished as customers defect to Walmart and off-price department store chains like TJ Maxx in search of lower prices. Many analysts, however, think Target is stumbling because consumers no longer consider it the place to go for affordable but stylish products, a niche that long ago earned the retailer the jokingly posh nickname "Tarzhay." More here.