On Target’s Q2 earnings call with investors, CEO Brian Cornell announced that the retailer’s board of directors has unanimously elected Michael Fiddelke, currently its chief operating officer (COO), to become its next CEO.
Michael Fiddelke, incoming CEO, Target | Image credit: Target Corp.
Fiddelke will also join the board at the start of Target’s fiscal 2026. The change comes as Target net sales have declined since 2022 and the retailer works on a turnaround. Additionally, Target sales have decreased year over year in each of its past three fiscal quarters.
Fiddelke will assume the role of CEO and join the board on Feb. 1, 2026, Target announced. He currently leads Target’s nearly 2,000 stores, its global supply chain network, fulfillment services, enterprise services and properties, according to the company. He started as an intern at Target in 2003 and has held various leadership positions across the organization since, including the chief financial officer role.
“The board chose Michael through a deliberate and thoughtful succession planning process, which took place over the last few years,” Cornell told investors. “As part of this process, the board conducted a rigorous search through which Michael’s skills, experience and qualifications were thoroughly evaluated alongside a strong list of both external and internal candidates.”
Target is No. 5 in the Top 2000 Database. The database is Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of North America’s online retailers by web sales.
Target is also No. 64 in the Global Online Marketplaces Database, which ranks the 100 largest global marketplaces by third-party gross merchandise value (GMV). In both databases, Digital Commerce 360 categorizes Target as a Mass Merchant.
Target CEO change part of a long-term strategy
Fiddelke and Cornell will work together through Feb. 1, 2026, to transition into the leadership change.
Cornell said he is confident Fiddelke is “the right candidate to lead our business back to growth.” Fiddelke became COO at Target in February 2025. Since then, he since began leading a new office to influence how Target is using AI.
“Since I arrived at Target, I have consistently relied on Michael’s strategic insights and sound judgment when making decisions,” Cornell stated. “And he has played a critical role in advancing the key initiatives that have grown and sustained our business.”
Cornell added that as Target results have fallen short of expectations over the last few years, Fiddelke has engaged the executive leadership team to refocus its strategy. Fiddelke will continue his work leading the Enterprise Acceleration Office that Target launched in Q1.
“I want to stress that this is a longer-term effort that’s focused on finding new and sustainable ways of working that can serve us for years to come,” Cornell said. “And the way our team has worked together this year to navigate through a volatile and uncertain tariff environment provides a vivid example of how our team can perform when we remove barriers and coordinate our efforts across the business.”
Cornell has served as Target’s chair and CEO since August 2014. He previously was CEO of PepsiCo Americas Foods, a PepsiCo division.
Incoming CEO’s key priorities for Target
Fiddelke said he is working with Cornell, the board and Target’s executive leadership team to take “a clear-eyed approach to the work in front of us.”
He told investors he has established three key priorities to “reinforce what will continue to set us apart for years to come.”
Fiddelke’s three key priorities for Target:
- Reestablish Target’s merchandising authority
- Elevate the customer experience
- “More fully” use technology to improve speed, guest experience and efficiency throughout the business
“Even when overall results have fallen short of our aspirations, we’ve shown how strongly our guests respond when we offer the right blend of quality, value and style not seen anywhere else in the market,” Fiddelke said.
Fiddelke added that he has seen “how critically important it is” to continually reevaluate strategies as well as to understand evolving consumer expectations and trends.
“And I’ve seen firsthand the impact as bold leaders like Brian have made strong decisive choices to not only meet the needs of today, but to tap into the potential of tomorrow,” Fiddelke said. “But despite the solid foundation that’s been established our performance over the last few years has not been acceptable. While we’re proud of the many ways that Target is unique in American Retail, we have real work in front of us. And to be blunt, we need to move faster, much faster, and we are.”
Goals of Target’s ‘Enterprise Acceleration Office’
Target has “urgently” adjusted its approach to assortment amid “rapidly evolving” tariff and consumer environments, Fiddelke said.
“This type of speed and agility is exactly how we need to lead across all aspects of our business, serving as a textbook model for our new Enterprise Acceleration Office,” he said.
He said the office has identified:
- The biggest challenges slowing Target down
- Legacy technology that doesn’t meet today’s needs
- Manual work that Target can automate
- Unclear accountabilities
- Slow decision-making
- Siloed goals
- A lack of access to quality data
“Solving these challenges will require changes, both big and small, across technology and data, process and structures, and organizational behaviors,” Fiddelke said. “And I’m committed to ensuring our teams clearly understand our priorities and are relentless in our pursuit back to growth.”
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