Opinion: The ‘Target Run’ Is Making a Comeback

When Target Corp. named long-serving executive Michael Fiddelke to succeed Brian Cornell as chief executive officer a year ago, he had two tasks.

The first was to make Target a better retailer, with inspiring products, available on shelves when consumers wanted them in a pleasant store environment. The second was deciding what the brand stood for after it ditched its diversity and inclusion commitments in early 2025.

The company’s second-quarter performance, beating estimates on same-store sales and earnings and upgrading its full-year outlook, shows that Fiddelke is making progress on the retail basics part of the turnaround.

When it comes to reestablishing its identity and winning back customers’ hearts, he still has more to do. But if the company can keep delivering attractive and affordable items, the CEO has a good chance of reviving the habit that made the chain a regular part of shoppers’ lives: the “Target run,” where consumers pop in for a few basic items but end up filling their carts.

Fiddelke has wasted no time in getting to grips with the nuts and bolts of running stores and shopping websites. He is prioritising the areas where Target can shine, including home furnishings, beauty, children’s goods, grocery and women’s style.

As part of the renewal, the CEO is trying to get the company back to its glory years, with appealing fashion and a return to the eye-catching collaborations it became known for over the previous two decades. The retailer is also enhancing its beauty departments and adding baby boutiques, with specialty products and employee experts to guide shoppers and answer questions.

In food, Target wants to be the destination for buzzy new items, such as gluten-free pumpkin spice cereal and probiotic coconut yogurt — a smart move given that it faces increasing competition on no-frills basics from German discounters Aldi and Lidl.

Fiddelke is also aiming to deliver decent value for money. This isn’t always about being the cheapest. It’s about giving customers a sense of getting more than they paid for, perhaps through better quality or sparkling design.

And Target is sprucing up stores, while making it easier for shoppers to find what they’re looking for. It’s no use having the prettiest summer dresses and fanciest food if they’re always sold out.

Taken together, these initiatives should help the retailer appeal to busy families, which it has identified as, well, its target audience.

Such a comprehensive overhaul may be wise, but it isn’t cheap. The company is investing $5 billion this fiscal year on opening new stores and revamping others, upgrading its technology and sharpening its supply chain.

But the effort does seem to be paying off. Same-store sales, which measure results at locations open at least a year, rose 3.8 percent in the second quarter, ahead of the average analyst forecast of 2.4 percent. Earnings also beat expectations, although this was helped by $994 million in tariff refunds.

To keep the reboot going, Fiddelke can’t afford to let up. Merchants must continuously develop and source products that resonate with customers. Upcoming events, such as Halloween and the winter holidays, when Target has traditionally performed well, will be important tests. The company must continue to offer better availability of its in-demand products while still controlling inventory, one of the retailer’s historical weak spots.

Being clear on what the Target brand means and having it resonate with shoppers is harder. Listening to what customers want is a good start. Such feedback has already helped to inform the decision to focus on baby goods, for example.

Reassuringly, Target said sales growth came from all demographics. And the longer the company can avoid any self-inflicted wounds, the more noticeable the improvements in the retail details will become.

The retailer is also confronting a cautious consumer, as the boost from tax refunds fades and price hikes from higher energy costs have yet to be fully passed on by the manufacturers of consumer goods. Competition remains intense. Walmart Inc. in particular has its sights set on Target’s more upmarket customers.

Investors seem to be giving Fiddelke the benefit of the doubt. Although the stock fell in premarket trading on Wednesday, the shares are up about 80 percent since November.

That investors are on a Target run of their own is encouraging, but it also means that Fiddelke can’t afford to miss the bullseye.

By Andrea Felsted