By Sarah Nassauer

Target named a former Walmart executive as its new head of supply chain as it tries to reverse years of sluggish sales that were caused, in part, by unreliably stocked shelves.

Target said Tuesday that former Walmart executive Jeff England would become its chief global supply-chain and logistics officer, replacing longtime Target executive Gretchen McCarthy.

England, most recently the head of supply chain at building-products distributor QXO, will start the job at the end of this month. The 48-year-old will "be responsible for accelerating Target's supply chain plans to improve its shopping experience," the company said. Previously England spent nearly two decades at Walmart.

McCarthy, 47, who has led Target's supply-chain efforts since 2022 after a long career there, will stay at the company as an adviser through August, the company said.

Target struggled to reliably stock its shelves in the wake of the pandemic after its sales skyrocketed, then subsided. The Minneapolis-based retailer has reported 13 consecutive quarters of weak or falling sales, in part because shoppers struggle to reliably find or order what they need.

Michael Fiddelke, who became Target's chief executive earlier this year, has made improving Target's store experience one of his early goals. "You, guys, will get sick of me talking about we're going to get more in-stock, we're going to get more in-stock, we're going to get more in-stock," Fiddelke said at a March investor meeting where the company laid out its future plans. Fiddelke said Target's in-stock levels are improving but aren't yet where they want them.

"Too often, we're cluttered, out of stock, or even transactional," Cara Sylvester, Target's chief merchandising officer said at the investor meeting. "We're making improvements first upstream at headquarters and in our supply-chain facilities to remove complexity," she said. The company has invested to open more warehouses in recent years, which includes two new facilities in the first half of this year that will process goods bound for stores.

Target is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings Wednesday morning. It is expected to report a sales and profit lift after reporting weak results in the same quarter last year.

Write to Sarah Nassauer at Sarah.Nassauer@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 19, 2026 09:15 ET (13:15 GMT)

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