Following months of disappointing investor returns and customer satisfaction, Target Canada has announced president Tony Fisher will leave the company immediately, according to a release. Mark Schindele, SVP merchandising operations of the U.S. branch, will assume the title.
The senior leadership changeover comes after the retailer shifted Target global CEO Gregg Steinhafel out of the role, replacing him with interim CEO John Mulligan, the company’s CFO.
Schindele, who has been with the U.S. office for 15 years, will join the leadership team in Canada, which includes VP marketing, Livia Zufferli; Janna Adair Potts, SVP, stores and distribution; John Butcher, SVP merchandising; Tiffany Monroe, VP human resources and Mark Wong, general counsel.
The move comes after months of poor results at the new-to-Canada retailer, which arrived amid a myriad of media hype and speculation. However, after the retailer opened more than 100 stores in Canada in 2013, led by Fisher, early sales results were flat, bringing the entire company’s bottom line down, costing the company almost $1 billion. Shoppers have complained the prices were too high in comparison to U.S. Target locations and a lack of inventory has been an issue.
In the U.S., the company has picked up some bad press as a result of a massive data breach, exposing at least 40 million shoppers’ personal payment card information to hackers. This included some 30,000 Canadian shoppers’ information.