Target CEO Brian Cornell is stepping down after 11 years at the retailer, as the company faces slumping sales and backlash to its retreat on DEI.

Target needs a hard reset on strategy, Wall Street believes. And new CEO Michael Fiddelke may not be the person to do it.

Target CEO Brian Cornell will step down early next year after more than a decade at the helm of the $107 billion retail giant, the company said on Wednesday. In recent years, Target has suffered sluggish sales as the company weathered consumer boycotts over its Pride collection and a rollback of its diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

Investors are panning Target Corp's choice of insider Michael Fiddelke as chief executive officer (CEO) on Wednesday, viewing the 20-year company veteran as unlikely to fix the retailer's myriad issues that have resulted in years of stock-market underperformance.

Activists and customers on the right attacked Target on social media for its LGBTQ-themed merchandise during Pride Month. Target employees faced threats. Misinformation spread on social media that the swimsuits designed for transgender people were marketed to children, which they were not. The company removed them from stores.

Target promoted insider Michael Fiddelke on Wednesday as its new CEO to turn around the struggling retailer after a series of challenges over recent years that caused its shares to vastly lag those of its peers.

The Minneapolis-based retailer certainly has challenges now, but looking back, it’s clear Target was in a make-or-break moment when Brian Cornell took charge 11 years ago.

The Warby Parker at Target shop-in-shop will offer products and services — including glasses, sunglasses, contacts, eye exams and vision tests. The shops will be staffed by Warby Parker employees. A shop at 201 Sunrise Blvd. in West Whiteland Township, Chester County, near Exton will open on Aug. 30.

Walmart Inc. powered through an uncertain economic environment and tariff concerns to deliver solid second-quarter financial results Thursday, showing it keeps pulling in shoppers and outpacing peers like Target.

Target named Michael Fiddelke as its new CEO, effective Feb. 1. Target beat Wall Street's earnings and sales expectations and reaffirmed its outlook on Wednesday, even as the company's sales and traffic across its stores and website declined.