Target Shakes Up Leadership
Target in January made several changes to its executive leadership team to better position the mass merchant for success in 2025 and beyond.
Mark Schindele, executive vice president and chief stores officer, will retire after 25 years with Target. Adrienne Costanzo, senior vice president, store operations, will serve as Target’s next chief stores officer, effective Feb. 2, when Schindele moves into a strategic advisor role before retiring on March 29.
Since joining the company in 1999, Schindele has served in multiple roles spanning merchandising and operations. Over the past five years as chief stores officer, he led the stores' organization through the COVID-19 pandemic and during the largest period of growth in the company's history, improving retail fundamentals and the guest experience, Target said in a media release.
Costanzo will lead more than 350,000 store team members and oversee the operations of the company's nearly 2,000 locations across the U.S. Costanzo has more than 20 years of experience leading teams and driving business results across Target's stores, human resources and merchandising functions. She will report to Michael Fiddelke, EVP and chief operating officer.
Brett Craig, EVP and chief information officer, will retire after 15 years at Target. In addition to various positions in technology, Craig held roles in merchandising and digital. With his departure, Prat Vemana, EVP, chief digital and product officer, will take on the role of chief information and product officer. This change aims to further strengthen the role technology plays in Target's strategy, including the company's operations.
Since joining Target in 2022, Vemana has redesigned the company's digital platforms and capabilities, enhancing the digital shopping experience and resulting in strong growth. In her new role, Vemana will accelerate the retailer's technology strategy with a focus on furthering the use of automation, data and AI to enhance the working and shopping experience. Vemana will also continue to lead Target’s user experience strategy and enterprise product function to speed development of technology solutions.
Sarah Travis, SVP, Roundel and social commerce, has been promoted to EVP and chief digital and revenue officer, joining Target’s leadership team. Travis has helped grow the retailer's in-house media company, Roundel, which is on pace to deliver nearly $2 billion in value to Target in fiscal 2024, per the release.