Brian Cornell's up-and-down tenure as Target CEO
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Brian Cornell in 2019. Photo: Brad Barket/Getty Images for Fast Company
Brian Cornell's missteps at the end of his tenure as CEO of Target will likely overshadow the bold moves he took 12 years ago to get the struggling company back on solid ground.
The big picture: Cornell, who hands over the reins to Michael Fiddelke on Sunday, leaves behind a mixed legacy at the Minneapolis-based retailer.
Flashback: When he took over in 2014, Target was in the midst of a botched expansion into Canada and was bleeding money. A few months later, he pulled the plug, shutting down 133 stores north of the border and taking a $5.4 billion hit.
- A year later, he sold Target's money-losing pharmacy business to CVS for $1.9 billion. Target got out at the right time, as the retail pharmacy industry has fallen into significant struggles.
- That same year, he laid off 1,700 corporate workers and announced increased investment in e-commerce, turning stores into shipping hubs. That positioned the company to benefit from a rise in online shopping that sped up during the pandemic.
Yes, but: Target's stock price went from around $60 when he started to $260 during the pandemic, but has fallen back to around $102.
Context: The company has waffled on social issues. A Pride merchandise collection upset conservatives and a rollback of DEI initiatives led to a sustained boycott that company leaders acknowledged has contributed to declining sales.
- Plus, the company, despite years of efforts, has continued to struggle with inventory issues.
The bottom line: Cornell's last several weeks on the job came as the Trump administration sent an unprecedented surge of federal immigration agents to the company's hometown, where they arrested store employees, used store bathrooms and staged vehicles in parking lots.