I spent my Saturday with the Target exec on a mission to fix its stores

If the vacation shopping play is simply a retailer's last exam each year, back-to-school is the midterms. For Target, this year's trial is simply a large one.

Success depends connected getting the basics right: breathtaking merchandise, afloat stocked stores, and competitive pricing. Those are each areas wherever Target has stumbled successful caller years.

This year's play is besides an early publication connected CEO Michael Fiddelke's turnaround plan. He took the reins earlier this twelvemonth aft a unsmooth spot for Target, which faced boycotts successful 2025 aft winding down respective diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Last week, it faced caller criticism complete a children's Halloween costume resembling racist minstrel imagery; Target pulled it and apologized.

To spot really Target is trying to propulsion it off, Business Insider visited a brace of stores successful Madison, Wisconsin, pinch main stores serviceman Adrienne Costanzo.

Costanzo is simply a 22-year seasoned of Target and has held galore roles successful HR and shop operations. Her assignment to her existent position came successful February 2025, astir six months earlier Fiddelke was announced arsenic CEO. She's now responsible for much than 350,000 workers crossed 2,000 stores successful each 50 US states.

This month, Costanzo has logged serious miles to cheque successful pinch shoppers, employees, and shop managers astir what's moving and what isn't successful their stores arsenic they caput backmost to school.

"This is the 16th authorities successful 3 weeks of visits," she said while successful Madison. "I've been to Michigan, I've been to Nebraska, I mean, I've been for illustration everywhere."

On the Saturday of this visit, grade-school parents were gearing up for the first time of class, and assemblage students astatine the University of Wisconsin were kitting retired their apartments. Dorm move-ins were still a week away, and some locations were doing brisk business.

Unlike the holidays, different schoolhouse seasons highest astatine different times, creating each mode of complexity for inventory readying and staffing, Fiddelke told investors connected a second-quarter net call.

"The ft postulation is unthinkable — the parents and students," Costanzo said of her multi-state tour.

Her visits see conversations pinch shoppers who definitive alleviation astatine Target's improved in-stock rates and affirmative impressions of collaborations pinch brands for illustration LoveShackFancy and Hollister, she said. It's a return to the benignant of merchandising that helps tie customers into stores and tempts them to adhd unexpected finds to an already afloat shopping cart.

During the tours, Costanzo talked pinch shop managers astir everything from their hiring and training efforts successful the anterior months to a caller trailer loading strategy that helps shop workers get merchandise onto shelves much quickly.

Even pinch higher traffic, some locations were much tightly stocked than connected erstwhile Business Insider visits, pinch nary inventory carts lingering successful the aisles. (Costanzo's sojourn was announced up of time.)

A notable objection to the afloat stocked shelves was a conception reserved for Pokémon, which the shop head said sold retired aft much than 50 customers had been waiting successful statement for the merchandise to drop.

"You can't waste air," Costanzo said, explaining to the shop leaders that her squad is moving connected a solution to guarantee important support space doesn't beryllium idle while suppliers activity to drawback up pinch precocious demand.

While this sojourn progressive a spot of an entourage, Costanzo said she besides drops successful connected stores incognito, which allows her to get much of a guest-eye position of really Target's teams are performing.

One specified visit, she said, showed her Target still has activity to do successful training and balancing the responsibilities of shop teams during engaged moments for illustration this.

"Our squad puts their caput down and is doing the work," she said. "I did not acquisition a batch of the oculus interaction and smiles. I didn't acquisition arsenic overmuch arsenic I would person wanted astir attraction connected the cheque lanes."

"I want america to guidelines astatine our champion erstwhile we're engaged pinch the full experience," she added.

Have a tip? Contact this newsman via email astatine [email protected] aliases text/call/Signal astatine 646-768-4750. Use a individual email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guideline to sharing accusation securely.