Target CEO Resigns Amid Ongoing Boycotts And Sales Woes

Target Announces Its Replacing Current CEO — Source: Mario Tama / Getty

Another day, another L for Target. Amid its ongoing sales woes, Target’s CEO has resigned from his position.

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According to CNN, Brian Cornell has been Target’s CEO for the last 11 years. He will officially step down from the position on Feb. 1, 2026, at which point Target’s current Chief Operating Officer, Michael Fiddelke, will take over the role. Insiders told CNN that Cornell’s resignation had long been expected, given the ongoing downturn in the company’s sales.

Target reported a sales drop for the third quarter in a row, with shares falling 10% ahead of Cornell’s resignation.

While Target’s 2025 can only be described as a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year, its problems started well before that. Target had spent much of the last decade selling itself as a progressive brand. The company regularly ran promotions for Black History Month and Pride Month, and made Juneteenth a company holiday before it was even federally recognized.

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Yet 2024 provided a glimpse into the direction the company would soon take. After Target received pushback from conservative, anti-LBGTQ groups over its Pride displays in 2023, the company took a more muted approach to celebrating Pride. This understandably upset the LGBTQ community, who had long supported the company.

Target then got 2025 off to a hot start by sunsetting its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs as soon as President Donald Trump took office. It ended a program designed to help Black employees advance in the company, and will no longer report on the DEI goals the company set for itself.

This abrupt closure was met with immediate criticism, as Target had long positioned itself as an ally to the Black community. Anne and Lucy Dayton, the daughters of one of Target’s cofounders, were upset by the walkback on DEI, calling it “a betrayal.”

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As a result of its new, anti-DEI stance, Target has been the subject of several consumer boycotts over the last year. The consumer boycotts have had a pronounced effect on Target’s business. Foot traffic has consistently been down throughout the year, and the company reported a first-quarter sales loss in the midst of the ongoing boycotts. The consumer boycotts have been so effective that other companies have begun warning investors about them.

While consumer sentiment has been a large driver of Target’s sales woes, they also made several strategic errors. The company bought too much merchandise in 2022 and had a surplus of unsold product. Target imports a large portion of its merchandise, so it’s especially vulnerable to the Trump administration’s erratic tariff policy. Target’s core sales traditionally came from nonessential goods, which consumers are buying less and less as prices rise and wages stagnate.

It doesn’t appear that Fiddelke’s appointment is going to meaningfully address the concerns of alienated consumers. His big pitch is the “Fun 101” initiative that seeks to fill Target stores with trendier electronics and home goods. I’m no business strategist, but I don’t see how doubling down on nonessential goods at a time when consumers are becoming more and more frugal is going to solve Target’s problems.

If Target has taught us anything, it’s that a retail company shouldn’t alienate its core base for a group of people who probably only shop at Walmart.

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