Thin Crowds During CEO’s Visit Helped Seal Target Canada’s Demise
Target Corp was scrambling for ways to fix its failing Canadian expansion and considering closing just the weakest locations, but a pre-holiday visit to several stores by CEO Brian Cornell helped seal the decision for a full retreat. Cornell spent the weekend before Christmas making solo visits to stores in Ontario and Quebec, Canada’s most populous provinces, according to a Target source familiar with the U.S. discount retailer’s decision to pull out of Canada. Though the recently appointed chief executive could see signs of operational improvements – notably, better stocked shelves – a key ingredient was missing. “There just weren’t enough people in the stores,” the source said.