Target Corp. said it has replaced the head of its struggling Canadian operations, naming 15-year company veteran Mark Schindele to succeed Tony Fisher as president of the division.
Fisher had overseen the rapid rollout of Target in Canada over the past two years, which has been marked by perceived pricing problems and supply-chain missteps. Schindele’s appointment comes two weeks after the ouster of Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel in the wake of a massive data breach that compromised the payment-card information of millions of Target customers late last year.
Target said Schindele, who has been SVP, merchandising operations, has “played an integral role in launching new store formats” at the Minneapolis-based company, including PFresh, CityTarget, and Target Express. He has also enhanced Target’s guest insights and analytics capabilities and led multiple business categories and vendor partnerships, the company said.
Schindele will report to Kathee Tesija, chief merchandising and supply chain officer, whose responsibilities include Target Canada. Target also said it will name a non-executive chair in Canada to “bring further strategic counsel and deep Canadian market expertise to the team” and “to ensure all strategies and tactics align with the Canadian marketplace.”
“We are grateful to Tony for leading Target’s first international launch,” said John Mulligan, Target’s interim president and CEO. “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.
“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.”
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Other senior members of the Target Canada leadership team include: Janna Adair Potts, SVP, stores and distribution; John Butcher, SVP, merchandising; Livia Zufferli, VP, marketing;Tiffany Monroe, vice president, human resources; and Mark Wong, general counsel.
Date: May 20, 2014