Iowa Native Named CEO of Struggling National Retailer

A national retailer who has faced some serious financial struggles over the last couple years has now tabbed an Iowa native and University of Iowa graduate as their top executive in hopes he can steer the ship out of the chaos in which it has been plagued.

Last week, Target's board of directors appointed Michael Fiddelke as CEO. Fiddelke is an Iowa native; the second Iowan to be in the head role of the company following Kenneth Macke. Macke was a native of Carroll, IA and graduate of Drake University, who was served in his position with Target from 1983 to 1994.

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About Michael Fiddelke:

Fiddelke succeeds Brian Cornell as CEO, who has served in his role since 2014. Fiddelke will take over as CEO on February 1st, 2026, per The Des Moines Register. A Manchester, IA native, Fiddelke has been with Target since 2003, when he joined the company as an intern. He served as the company's COO since January 2024 prior to receiving the promotion:

Fiddelke has a Master of Business Administration degree from Northwestern University coupled with a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering from the University of Iowa. He graduated from Iowa in 1999; the school later honored him with its Alumni Merit Ward in 2023, per The Des Moines Register.

Fiddelke's profile in Fortune magazine reveals that the incoming CEO grew up on his family farm in Manchester (between Waterloo and Dubuque), where his family farmed beef, sheep, corn, and soybeans.

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His big piece of advice? Don't fret about end goals and feel like you have to have your life mapped out when you're still figuring things out:

As I was graduating high school, or even as I started my Target career as an intern, I never anticipated or even imagined the path my career would take. Where you start is almost never where you’ll finish. Your career, your passions and even your goals will evolve. Make the best decisions you can with what you know now. Stay flexible and give yourself permission to adjust as you go - Michael Fiddelke, per Fortune magazine

Fiddelke Has the Tall Order of Trying to Turn Target Around:

Target has been a mess as of late. The company slashed its annual sales forecast in May, and its operating income of $1.3 billion was 19.4% lower than it was in 2024.

It would appear that investors aren't supremely confident in Fiddelke's ability to lead the company out of its current problems. Following his announcement as incoming CEO, Target shares dropped over 6%, with some analysts stating that the company should've looked for new leadership outside of the company:

We have very mixed feelings about this appointment. This is an internal appointment that does not necessarily remedy the problems of entrenched groupthink and the inward-looking mindset that have plagued Target for years - Neil Saunders, Managing Director at GlobalData, per The Des Moines Register

Read more about Iowa native Michael Fiddelke assuming the role of Target CEO on The Des Moines Register's website.