Minneapolis-based Target said CEO Brian Cornell will step down on Feb. 1. PHOTO COURTESY OF NEWSMAX

New York (AP) — Target named an insider as its next chief executive officer Wednesday, a decision that comes as the discount retailer tries to reverse a persistent sales malaise and to revive its reputation as the place to go for affordable but stylish products.

Minneapolis-based Target said CEO Brian Cornell, who has led the company for 11 years, would step down on Feb. 1. The board of directors chose Chief Operating Officer Michael Fiddelke, a 20-year Target veteran, to succeed him.

Target, which has about 1,980 U.S. stores, has struggled to find its footing since inflation caused pinched shoppers to curtail their discretionary spending. Customers have complained of messy stores with merchandise that did not reflect the expensive-looking but budgetpriced niche that long ago earned the retailer the jokingly posh nickname “Tarzhay.”

Consumer boycotts since late January, when Target joined rival Walmart and a number of other prominent American brands in scaling back corporate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, have compounded its predicament.

Some retail analysts were surprised the board did not pick a candidate from outside the company to turn things around. Target’s stock price was down more than 8% in early morning trading after the company announced both Fiddelke’s appointment and another quarter of disappointing sales.

“The Street was looking for a fresh pair of eyes that might bring a solution to two years of stumbles,” Stacey Widlitz, president of investment research firm SW Retail Advisors, said while noting that she thinks investors should give Fiddelke a chance.

During a call with reporters on Tuesday, Fiddelke acknowledged many of Target’s problems. For example, he said he thought the company became too focused on basic home goods during the coronavirus pandemic, when demand for cozy furnishings and kitchen tools exploded.

Fiddelke said he would step in as CEO with three urgent priorities: reclaiming the company’s position as a leader in selecting and displaying merchandise; improving the customer experience by making sure shelves are consistently stocked and stores are clean; and investing in technology.

“When we’re leading with swagger in our merchandising authority, when we have swagger in our marketing and we’re setting the trend for retail, those are some of the moments I think that Target has been at its highest in my 20 years,” Fiddelke said.

Target has reported flat or declining comparable sales — those from established physical stores and online channels — in nine out of the past 11 quarters. On Wednesday, the company said comparable sales dipped 1.9% dip in its latest three-month period, when its net income also dropped 21%.

In March, members of Target’s executive team told investors they planned to regain the chain’s reputation for selling stylish goods at budget prices by expanding Target’s lineup of store label brands and shortening the time it took to get new items from the idea stage into stores.

“In a world where we operate today, our guests are looking for Tarzhay,” Cornell told investors. “Consumers coined that term decades ago to define how we elevate the everything everyday to something special, how we had unexpected fun in the shopping that would be otherwise routine.”