Target continues shakeup following CEO’s termination
Target continues to make leadership changes in the U.S. and Canada following Gregg Steinhafel’s ousting from the company in an effort to drive U.S. traffic and sales, improve its ailing Canadian operations and advance its ongoing digital transformation.
Effective immediately, the company said in a statement, Tony Fisher, president, Target Canada, will depart the company, and will be replaced with Mark Schindele, who is SVP, merchandising operations. Schindele will report to chief merchandising and supply chain officer Kathee Tesija, whose responsibilities include Target Canada.
Schindele has 22 years of retail experience, including 15 years at Target, where he has played an integral role in launching new store formats, including PFresh, CityTarget and Target Express. Schindele is also credited with enhancing Target's guest insights and analytics capabilities and led multiple business categories and vendor partnerships. In his current role, he leads a global team and provides senior-level oversight to Target's merchandising operations, including systems, global sourcing and product development.
"We are grateful to Tony for leading Target's first international launch. One of our key priorities is improving performance in Canada more rapidly and we believe it is important to be aggressive. We have a committed team who is focused on delivering an outstanding shopping experience to our Canadian guests and getting our performance on track," said John Mulligan, Target's interim president and CEO. "Mark's broad understanding of the retail industry and his record of leading global operations will help accelerate efforts to drive improvements across our Canadian business."
Target also plans on naming a non-executive chair in Canada. In this newly created advisory role, the non-executive chair will provide counsel and support to the president of Target Canada to ensure all strategies and tactics align with the Canadian marketplace.
"Target is committed to making more rapid progress in Canada and I am personally very excited about working alongside the team to improve operations and deliver a Target experience that will earn us the trust and loyalty of our Canadian guests," said Schindele.
In the U.S., Target is also elevating three senior merchandising leaders and realigning the team as the company focuses on driving improved performance. Trish Adams has been promoted to EVP, apparel and home; Jose Barra has been promoted to EVP, essentials and hardlines; and Keri Jones has been promoted to EVP, merchandising planning and operations.
Target added that the timing of the leadership changes is unrelated to its first quarter 2014 financial results, which the company is scheduled to announce May 21. The news comes a day after the company brought onboard Peter Glusker as SVP, new business integration and operations, as well as a day after a regulatory filing confirmed that Target cut the compensation of former CEO Gregg Steinhafel to $13 million in fiscal 2013 from $20.6 million in fiscal 2012.
According to the filing, Target decided to reduce Steinhafel’s compensation due to its performance, which was hampered not only by the massive data breach but also the company’s entry into Canada. Target also acknowledged in the filing that Steinhafel was involuntarily terminated.