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If you read brand new Target CEO Michael Fiddelke\u2019s first message as chief to customers, employees and partners, you could be forgiven for not realizing that the retailer currently finds itself in the maelstr\u00f6m surrounding immigration raids across the country, especially in its hometown of Minneapolis.<\/p>\n
Fiddelke, who officially took the reins of the struggling retailer on Sunday, laid out in a note on LinkedIn and on Target\u2019s web site on Monday what his priorities are as he takes over. Those include restoring Target\u2019s leadership in cheap-chic merchandise, making its stores and web site easier and more pleasant to use, more fully leveraging tech to improve customer experience and operations, and \u201cstrengthening\u201d employees and \u201cgrowing alongside the communities\u201d where Target runs its stores.<\/p>\n
While these kinds of CEO messages are typically aimed at employees to give them insight into a new leader\u2019s strategy, it\u2019s clear that current events won\u2019t let Fiddelke just get on with business. <\/p>\n
The New York Times<\/em> on Monday reported that demonstrations had recently taken place at about two dozen Target stores in Minnesota as well as in other cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New York. On Sunday, the American Federation of Teachers, which says its members own nearly 7 million shares via the pension funds in which they participate, called for Target to speak out against ICE. And on Monday, protesters at Target headquarters in Minneapolis demanded that the company take a stronger position against ICE. (A Target spokesperson said Fiddelke\u2019s note was intended to underscore his strategy to employees and partners, and that his priorities include employee safety.)<\/p>\n It is easy to understand why Fiddelke, a 22-year Target veteran who was most recently its operations chief, would prefer to focus on fixing the retailer. Target been trying to end a long period of lackluster sales and reverse market share losses to the likes of Walmart, T.J. Maxx and Amazon. Net sales fell 1.5 percent last quarter and in October, Target eliminated\u00a01,800 corporate positions. Target has lost some of the merchandising magic that for years won it a loyal following.<\/p>\n One component to Target\u2019s problems in the last few years has been customer anger at what many shoppers see as a 180-degree move away from supporting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Indeed, many commentators on Fiddelke\u2019s LinkedIn post said Target\u2019s comeback wouldn\u2019t happen without addressing the ICE and DEI issues. \u201cIf you want to lead with purpose, stop letting ICE stage on your property in locations all over Minnesota,\u201d one person wrote. Another wrote: \u201cPlease reinstate DEI to get your customers back!\u201d<\/p>\n Target has addressed the recent unrest in Minneapolis and St. Paul, but as part of a 60-company message via Minnesota Chamber of Commerce that called for \u201can immediate deescalation of tensions.\u201d\u00a0Indeed, corporate America has been far shier to directly criticize the U.S. government than it was in 2020 during that period of social unrest.<\/p>\n In his message, Fiddelke wrote that \u201cin the weeks ahead, my focus is simple: listen closely, move with clarity and urgency, and lead with purpose.\u201d Fiddelke is very comfortable talking broadly about winning back consumer trust\u2014meaning offering the products they want at good prices. But now Target finds itself having to contend with customers who feel let down by the brand and what they thought it stood for. Winning back that trust may be an even bigger challenge. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n #Arrow #Button #Icon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you read brand new Target C… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18301,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[3816,3817,1242,3818],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18300"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}