NEW YORK  — Target is counting on a company veteran to revive its magic as it struggles to compete with rivals like Walmart.

The Minneapolis-based retailer said Wednesday that Chief Operating Officer Michael Fiddelke, who has been with Target for 20 years, will become CEO Feb. 1.

He succeeds Brian Cornell, who helped reenergize the company when he took the helm in 2014 but has struggled to turn around weak sales in a more competitive retail landscape since the COVID pandemic.

Fiddelke has overhauled Target’s supply network and expanded the company’s stores and digital services while cutting costs. In May, the company announced that he would lead a new office focused on faster decision-making to help accelerate sales growth.

Fiddelke is taking over at time when Target’s sales are in a funk, its stores are messy and understocked, and it’s losing market share to rivals.

He said he’s stepping into the role with three urgent priorities: reclaiming the company’s merchandising authority; improving the shopping experience by making sure shelves are consistently stocked and stores are clean; and investing in technology at the company’s stores and in its supply network.

“When we’re leading with swagger in our merchandising authority, when we have swagger in our marketing, and we’re setting the trend for retail, those are some of the moments I think that Target has been at its highest in my 20 years,” he said.

The change in leadership was announced Wednesday at the same time that Target reported another quarter of sluggish results.

The announcement surprised some analysts who expected Target to pick an outsider to turn things around. Neil Saunders, a managing director at GlobalData Retail, said he had mixed feelings.

“While we think Fiddelke is talented and has a somewhat different take on things compared to current CEO Brian Cornell, this is an internal appointment that does not necessarily remedy the problems of entrenched groupthink and the inward-looking mindset that have plagued Target for years,” he said.

Target reported a 21% drop in net income in the quarter ended Aug. 2. Sales were down slightly and the company reported a 1.9% dip in comparable sales — those from established physical stores and online channels. Target has seen flat or declining comparable sales in eight out of the past 10 quarters including the latest period.

Target, which has about 1,980 U.S. stores, has been the focus of consumer boycotts since late January, when it joined rival Walmart and a number of other prominent American brands in scaling back corporate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Target’s sales also have languished as customers defect to Walmart and off-price department store chains like TJ Maxx in search of lower prices. But many analysts think Target is stumbling because consumers no longer consider it the place to go for affordable but stylish products, a niche that long ago earned the retailer the jokingly posh nickname “Tarzhay.”

In fact, out of 35 merchandise categories that Target tracks, it gained or maintained market share in only 14 during the first half of the company’s fiscal year, Fiddelke said.

Meanwhile, Walmart gained market share among households with incomes over $100,000 as U.S. inflation caused consumer prices to rise rapidly. Lower-income shoppers have driven customer growth at Target, suggesting it may have lost appeal with wealthier customers, according to market research firm Consumer Edge.

“It’s probably not the best sign, especially because higher-income consumers continue to hold up a little bit better” during times of economic uncertainty, said Consumer Edge Head of Insights Michael Gunther.

In March, members of Target’s executive team told investors they planned to regain the chain’s reputation for selling stylish goods at budget prices by expanding Target’s lineup of store label brands and shortening the time it took to get new items from the idea stage to store shelves. The moves would help the company stay close to trends, executives said.

“In a world where we operate today, our guests are looking for Tarzhay,” Cornell told investors. “Consumers coined that term decades ago to define how we elevate the everything everyday to something special, how we had unexpected fun in the shopping that would be otherwise routine.”

Before joining Target in 2014, Cornell, 66, spent more than 30 years in leadership positions at retail and consumer-product companies, including as chief marketing officer at Safeway Inc. and CEO at Michaels, Walmart’s Sam’s Club and PepsiCo America Foods. In September 2022, the board extended his contract for three more years and eliminated a policy requiring its chief executives to retire at age 65. When Fiddelke takes over, Cornell will transition to be executive chair of the board.

When he got to Target, the company was facing a different set of challenges.

Cornell replaced former CEO Gregg Steinhafel, who stepped down nearly five months after Target disclosed a huge data breach in which hackers stole millions of customers’ credit- and debit-card records. The theft badly damaged the chain’s reputation and profits.

Cornell reenergized sales by having his team rev up Target’s store brands. It now has 40 private label brands in its portfolio. And even before the pandemic, Cornell spearheaded the company’s mission to transform its stores into delivery hubs to cut down on costs and speed up deliveries.

Target’s 2017 acquisition of Shipt helped bolster the discounter’s same-day, store-based fulfillment services. Cornell also focused on making its stores better tailored to the local community

The coronavirus pandemic delivered outsized sales for Target as well as its peers as people stayed home and bought pajamas, furnishings and kitchen items. And it continued to see a surge in sales as shoppers emerged from their homes and went to stores. But the spending sprees eventually subsided.

As inflation started to spike, Target reported a 52% drop in profits during its 2022 first quarter compared with a year earlier. Purchases of big TVs and appliances that Americans loaded up on during the pandemic faded, leaving the retailer with excess inventory that had to be sold off.

In July 2023, as shoppers feeling pinched by inflation curtailed their spending, Target said its comparable sales declined for the first time in six years.

Moreover, Target started losing its edge as an authority on style by focusing too much on home furnishings basics, and not enough trendy items, Fiddelke said.

A customer backlash over the annual line of LGBTQ+ Pride merchandise Target stores carried that year further cut into sales.

Although Walmart retreated from its diversity initiatives first, Target has been the focus of more concerted consumer boycotts. Organizers have said they viewed Target’s action as a greater betrayal because the company previously had held itself out as a champion of inclusion.

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Today is Wednesday, Aug. 20, the 232nd day of 2025. There are 133 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Aug. 20, 2012, after 80 years in existence, Georgia’s Augusta National golf club (home to the Masters Tournament) invited former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore to become its first female members; both accepted.

Also on this date:

In 1858, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution was first published, in the “Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society”.

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In 1862, the New York Tribune published an open letter by editor Horace Greeley calling on President Abraham Lincoln to take more aggressive measures to free enslaved people and end the South’s rebellion.

In 1866, President Andrew Johnson declared the official end of the Civil War.

In 1882, Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” had its premiere in Moscow.

In 1910, a series of wildfires swept through parts of Idaho, Montana and Washington, killing at least 85 people and burning some 3 million acres.

In 1920, the American Professional Football Conference was established by representatives of four professional football teams; two years later, with 18 teams, it would be renamed the National Football League.

In 1940, exiled Communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky was attacked in Coyoacan, Mexico by assassin Ramon Mercader. (Trotsky died the next day.)

In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Economic Opportunity Act, a nearly $1 billion anti-poverty measure.

In 1968, the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact nations invaded Czechoslovakia to crush the “Prague Spring” liberalization movement.

In 1986, postal employee Patrick Henry Sherrill went on a deadly rampage at a post office in Edmond, Oklahoma, shooting 14 fellow workers to death before killing himself.

In 1989, 51 people died when the pleasure boat Marchioness sank in the River Thames in London after being struck by a dredger.

In 2023, Tropical Storm Hilary struck Baja California, killing three and causing $15 million in damage.

Today’s Birthdays:

Boxing promoter Don King is 94.
Former U.S. Senator and diplomat George Mitchell is 92.
Former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, is 90.
Broadcast journalist Connie Chung is 79.
Rock singer Robert Plant is 77.
Country singer Rudy Gatlin is 73.
Singer-songwriter John Hiatt is 73.
Actor-director Peter Horton is 72.
TV weather presenter Al Roker is 71.
Actor Joan Allen is 69.
Movie director David O. Russell is 67.
Rapper KRS-One (Boogie Down Productions) is 60.
Actor Colin Cunningham is 58.
Actor Billy Gardell is 56.
Rock singer Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit) is 55.
Actor Ke Huy Quan is 54.
Baseball Hall of Famer Todd Helton is 52.
Actor Amy Adams is 51.
Actor Misha Collins (TV: “Supernatural”) is 51.
Actor Ben Barnes is 44.
Actor Andrew Garfield is 42.
Actor-singer Demi Lovato is 33.

For the past two seasons, it has been a given that somehow, some way, Joe Ryan would find a way to get through five innings.

Save for the game last season in which he left with an injury, you would have to go back nearly two years — Sept. 12, 2023 — to find the last time the starter didn’t complete at least five innings.

So it was a rare occurrence to see Ryan forced out of Tuesday night’s game after just four innings in the Twins’ 6-3 loss to the Athletics in the series opener at Target Field.

“(It was) much shorter than I would have liked,” Ryan said. “That gets frustrating. Try to go out there and get some more innings.”

Ryan gave up five runs, marking just the third time this season that he has allowed more than four. Just two of them were earned, as he was plagued by his defense, particularly in the fourth inning.

Ryan served up a two-out, two-run home run to Shea Langeliers in the third right after issuing a four-pitch walk to Nick Kurtz, turning the Twins’ lead into a deficit, and then found himself in more trouble an inning later.

After Tyler Soderstrom began the inning with an infield single, second baseman Luke Keaschall could not handle a rocket hit toward him, which took a hop and wound up in the outfield. The next batter reached when first baseman Kody Clemens dropped a throw from Royce Lewis. He was charged with an error.

“We want to hold ourselves to a high standard, and we want to make all the plays for our pitchers,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I think there were worlds where we work through that inning and they’re not putting those runs on the board, and then we’re right there in the game.”

The Athletics managed three runs from that opportunity, the first scoring on a shallow sacrifice fly hit to Keaschall, a play that he said he “should’ve thrown” the runner out on. Two more scored as Ryan gave up another pair of hits, allowing four total in the inning as his pitch count quickly climbed.

The Twins scored on a pair of solo home runs — Brooks Lee hit one in the fourth, Ryan Jeffers one an inning later — and a Matt Wallner double in the second inning. But they missed out on a chance to tie the game late with Lewis popping out in the bottom of the eighth with a pair of runners on.

“We could not sync those hits up enough tonight,” Baldelli said. “I think the at-bats were fine, but we certainly needed more on a day where we gave up a few.”

Briefly

The Twins promoted first-round draft pick Marek Houston on Monday to Class-A Advanced Cedar Rapids. The shortstop hit .370 with 20 hits in his first 12 professional games at Class A Fort Myers. … The Twins will send Bailey Ober to the mound Wednesday in the second game of the series. … Over in St. Paul, Connor Prielipp, one of the Twins’ top pitching prospects, gave up two runs in 3 1/3 innings in his Triple-A debut.

Minnesota Twins’ Byron Buxton (25) stands at the plate after striking out to end the bottom of the third inning of a baseball game against the Athletics Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

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Minnesota’s starters collectively had a poor offensive night Tuesday, yet the Lynx bench almost rescued the team.

Starting guard Courtney Williams overcame a slow start to finish with a team-high 17 points, and Natisha Hiedeman added 16 off the bench. But the Lynx fell 85-75 to the Liberty in New York.

Lynx reserves outscored the starters 38-37 with DiJonai Carrington and Maria Kliundikova each adding 11 points. None of Minnesota’s other four starters had more than six points.

Jessica Shepard had 10 rebounds and Alanna Smith had nine rebounds plus two blocks to set a franchise record with 69 this season, surpassing the 68 by Vanessa Hayden in 2005.

The league leader in assists at 23.4 per game, the Lynx had a season-low 10 on their 29 baskets. Minnesota was just 6 of 22 (27.3%) on 3-point tries. It leads the WNBA at 36.7% from deep.

“I didn’t think we had the recognition as far as some of their pressure points, getting rid of it quick, getting pass-pass combos. We were one pass and try to make something happen, so we were a little impatient. It’s not like us,” said coach Cheryl Reeve.

All five New York starters ended with double figures, led by 22 from Jonquel Jones, who also grabbed 10 rebounds. Sabrina Ionescu had 17 points and 11 assists.

“Their starters played great, and ours did not,” said Reeve, whose team was down by 12 points early. “Courtney got going eventually, but she was a big part of why we didn’t get off to a very good start (zero points and two turnovers in the first quarter). Our bench came in and really kind of buoyed the ship for us.”

“Being a role player, there ain’t nothing wrong with that. You just got to take pride in what you’re doing. I think our team, especially the bench, takes great pride in what we do,” Hiedeman said.

Playing without Napheesa Collier (ankle) for the fifth straight game — although she was listed as “doubtful” vs. “out” — the Lynx saw their six-game winning streak come to an end and fell to the Liberty for the only time in four meetings this season.

The contest ends three consecutive games against New York in a 10-day span.

“We knew that they were going to come out, hit us in our mouth. We battled back,” Williams said.

Down by 12 midway through the third quarter, Williams drained a contested triple over Jones in the waning seconds of the frame to get the Lynx within 66-60.

Williams scored on a mid-range jumper with 4:06 left, and it was 77-72 Liberty. A 3-pointer by Hiedeman got the Lynx within 79-75 nearly two minutes later, but Minnesota did not score again.

Williams missed a pair of jumpers, looking skyward in disbelief after the second with 1:07 left. Ionescu grabbed an offensive rebound and completed a four-point play with 33.8 seconds left to ice the win.

This is the first game in a stretch where the Lynx play four games in six days in four different cities. Minnesota is at Atlanta on Thursday and Indiana on Friday before facing the Indiana Fever at Target Center on Sunday.

Sabrina Ionescu #20 of the New York Liberty reacts with Kennedy Burke #22 after scoring a three-point shot in the final minute of the game against the Minnesota Lynx at Barclays Center on Aug. 19, 2025 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The Liberty won 85-75. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)