Target's COO will lead the struggling retailer when CEO Brian Cornell steps down in February

Wed, Aug 20, 2025, 5:36 AM 5 min read

NEW YORK (AP) — 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 Feb. 1.

Minneapolis-based Target Corp. said Wednesday that Chief Operating Officer Michael Fiddelke, a 20-year company veteran, will succeed Cornell. Cornell will transition to be executive chair of the board.

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 the 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. “As I arrived at Target, I consistently relied on Michael’s strategic insights and sound judgment when making decisions. Michael has developed a deeper knowledge of our business than anyone I know.”

Fiddelke 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.

In May, Target announced that Fiddelke would lead a new office focused on faster decision-making to help accelerate sales growth.

The change in leadership was announced Wednesday at the same time that Target reported another quarter of sluggish results. The company’s stock was down more than 8% in pre-market trading.

Target reported a 21% drop in net income in the quarter ended Aug. 2. Sales were down slightly and the company reported a 1.9% dip in comparable sales — those from established physical stores and online channels. Target has seen flat or declining comparable sales in eight out of the past 10 quarters including the latest period.

Target, which has about 1,980 U.S. 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.

Target’s sales also have languished as customers defect to Walmart and off-price department store chains like TJ Maxx in search of lower prices. But many analysts 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.”