Feb 4 (Reuters) – Target Corp’s new chief executive officer, Michael Fiddelke, told staff the big-box retailer has lost trust with shoppers and staff and pledged to rebuild that connection, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.
“We weren’t clear enough about who we are as a company,” Fiddelke told during his first town hall, according to a recording cited by Bloomberg News. “When we aren’t clear enough, that confuses people. We didn’t do enough to correct that confusion in the moment.”
Target named insider Fiddelke as its new CEO, effective February, replacing Brian Cornell, who had been expected to retire. Fiddelke, in October last year, announced about 1,800 corporate job cuts in the company’s first major round of layoffs in roughly a decade.
Fiddelke is taking the helm as Target faces a lengthy sales slump and navigates a fallout from an abrupt pullback in diversity initiatives after U.S. President Donald Trump took office last year.
The retailer is moving with urgency and focus on its merchandising, store experience and supporting its team and communities, a company spokesperson told Reuters.
“Priority 1 through 10 is accelerating Target’s growth… This strategy is coming to life across the business, and we’re already seeing the progress,” the spokesperson said.
Target’s unclear position has hurt the company’s standing with consumers – especially Black shoppers – as well as staffers, Fiddelke said, according to Bloomberg News. Last year was difficult, he said, adding that work is underway to reconnect with the customers Target has lost.
(Reporting by Neil J Kanatt in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
