{"id":2476853,"date":"2025-08-20T16:30:02","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T20:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/target-ceo-who-steered-struggling-retail-giant-into-wokeness-to-step-down-company-lost-its-grip\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T16:33:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T20:33:11","slug":"target-ceo-who-steered-struggling-retail-giant-into-wokeness-to-step-down-company-lost-its-grip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/target-ceo-who-steered-struggling-retail-giant-into-wokeness-to-step-down-company-lost-its-grip\/","title":{"rendered":"Target CEO Who Steered Struggling Retail Giant Into Wokeness to Step Down: Company &#8216;Lost Its Grip&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftarget-ceo-who-steered-struggling-retail-giant-into-wokeness-to-step-down-company-lost-its-grip%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2476853&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The summary of the article is as follows:<\/p>\n<p>Target is undergoing a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/az-gop-elect-trump-endorsed-election-integrity-warrior-as-new-party-chair\/\" title=\"AZ GOP selects Trump-endorsed &#039;Election Integrity Warrior&#039; as new chair\">significant leadership change<\/a> as CEO Brian Cornell steps down after <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >11 years amid declining sales adn growing dissatisfaction<\/a> among shareholders. Cornell will be succeeded by Michael Fiddelke, the current Chief Operating Officer and a 20-year veteran of the company. Target has struggled in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bulletproof-backpack-makers-retailers-slam-new-york-confiscation-legislation\/\" title=\"Bulletproof Backpack Makers,\u00a0Retailers\u00a0Slam New York Confiscation Legislation\">recent years due<\/a> to controversial decisions and a perceived focus on ideological issues that alienated many customers. Notably, Target faced backlash for its extensive LGBTQ+ merchandise and policies seen as pushing corporate &#8220;wokeness,&#8221; which led to consumer boycotts and falling sales. The company&#8217;s financial performance has been poor,with declining net income and stock value.Fiddelke plans to focus on improving store conditions, inventory management, and technology, but the article suggests that lasting recovery will require Target to prioritize customers over ideological agendas.  <\/p>\n<div id=\"ld-4686-3758\"><\/div>\n<p><script>(function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:14832835450050406,size:[0, 0],id:\"ld-4686-3758\"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src=\"https:\/\/cdn2.decide.dev\/_js\/ajs.js\";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,\"script\",\"ld-ajs\");<\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Target is seeing the end of an era that many customers would probably like to forget.<\/p>\n<p>After 11 years leading <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/mark-cubans-delusional-moment-declares-going-woke-good-business-amid-bud-light-target-boycotts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the embattled retail chain<\/a>, CEO Brian Cornell is stepping down, as sales have sunk and holder patience has run thin.<\/p>\n<p>Cornell will be replaced Feb. 1 by the company&rsquo;s current Chief Operating Officer, Michael Fiddelke, a 20-year company veteran who started as an intern, the Associated Press <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/target-ceo-brian-cornell-succession-dei-1d87a977b4869d4bace9ff85e6da427d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The leadership change comes as Target reels from years of poor decisions, ideological distractions, and a consumer base that found other options.<\/p>\n<p>Cornell&rsquo;s departure was widely expected, but some analysts had urged Target to bring in an outside voice. Instead, the board stuck with an insider, CNN <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/08\/20\/business\/target-stock-ceo-cornell\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Fiddelke said Wednesday that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/censured-trans-lawmaker-sends-ominous-warning-target-pulls-lgbt-merch-shelves\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Target<\/a> &ldquo;must improve&rdquo; and is &ldquo;not realizing our full potential right now.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>He promised to reclaim &ldquo;swagger&rdquo; in merchandising and marketing.<\/p>\n<p>But swagger won&rsquo;t fix years of alienating loyal customers.<\/p>\n<p>In 2023, Target was at the center of national outrage for its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/target-reverses-course-removes-hundreds-pride-items-collection-2000-last-year\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">over-the-top<\/a> &ldquo;pride&rdquo; merchandise displays. The collection included over 2,000 items, some described as &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/targets-press-releases-show-its-lying-about-ditching-dei\/\" title=\"...&#039;s Press Releases Show It&#039;s Lying About Ditching DEI\">tuck-friendly&#038;rdquo<\/a>; swimsuits and LGBT-themed merchandise for babies.<\/p>\n<p>The company doubled down on identity politics when Americans were already weary of being force-fed corporate wokeness.<\/p>\n<p>Facing boycotts and falling sales, Target scaled back dramatically.<\/p>\n<p>Its 2024 LGBT line featured just 75 items.<\/p>\n<p>Cornell&rsquo;s tenure also included Target&rsquo;s infamous 2016 <a href=\"https:\/\/finance.yahoo.com\/news\/target-transgenders-bathrooms-matching-gender-205625517.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">decision<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-judge-rejects-bidens-final-push-to-force-men-into-womens-sports\/\" title=\"Federal Judge Rejects Biden&#039;s Final Push to Force Men Into Women&#039;s Sports\">open women&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s bathrooms to men claiming to be women.<\/p>\n<p>Today, the company is paying the price.<\/p>\n<p>Target&rsquo;s stock has been one of the worst performers in the S&amp;P 500 this year. Sales have dropped for three straight quarters.<\/p>\n<p>The company reported a 21 percent decline in net income in its most recent quarter, with flat or falling comparable sales in nine of its last 11 quarters.<\/p>\n<p>Neil Saunders of GlobalData Retail summed it up bluntly, telling <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/one-leftists-least-favorite-cnn-figures-calls-trump-like-air-jordan-crime-polling\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CNN<\/a>, &ldquo;Target, which used to be very attuned to consumer demand, has lost its grip on delivering for the American shopper.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Cornell&rsquo;s early years saw some success. Target thrived during the pandemic as shoppers filled carts with essentials, home goods, and office supplies.<\/p>\n<p>But by 2022, the chain was swamped with unsold inventory and struggling to compete with Walmart, Costco, and Amazon.<\/p>\n<p>Fiddelke now inherits the mess.<\/p>\n<p>He said his priorities are cleaner stores, stocked shelves, and tech upgrades.<\/p>\n<p>That all sounds fine.<\/p>\n<p>But the truth is simple: Until Target puts shoppers ahead of ideology, no CEO will be able to undo the damage.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Target is approaching the close of a difficult chapter that many customers would prefer to move past. After 11 years at the helm of the struggling retail chain, CEO Brian Cornell is resigning amid declining sales and growing investor frustration. On February 1, he will be succeeded by Michael Fiddelke, the company&#8217;s current Chief Operating Officer and a 20-year veteran who began as an intern<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2476854,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Target-leadership-change.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[50913,54467,6581,4650,36456],"class_list":["post-2476853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-ceo-2","tag-corporate-leadership","tag-retail","tag-target","tag-woke-culture"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Target-leadership-change.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2476853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2476853"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2476853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2476857,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2476853\/revisions\/2476857"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2476854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2476853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2476853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2476853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}