Target's Transformation...

Target's new CEO Brian Cornell is planning a transformation for The Bullseye. He is the retailer's first CEO to be recruited from outside the company, and faces the huge task of revitalizing a brand that's recently seen such setbacks as a retreat from the Canadian market and a major hacking incident. A lengthy profile in Fortune provides details on Cornell's background, and Racked.com has posted some of the highlights:

* Improving Target's apparel, home decor and beauty offerings are priorities for Cornell. "The categories we’re going to stand for, the ones I call our signature categories—they’re the ones that can differentiate the brand going forward. So you’ll see us elevate our focus around our style categories, apparel, home, beauty—critically important categories for our guest—and we think we can differentiate in that space," he said. 

* Cornell is the first Target CEO to attend New York Fashion Week. 

* Cornell made the call to shutter all of Target's Canada stores after he took a solo trip to visit Targets in Montreal the Saturday before Christmas and found them painfully empty. 

* In some Target stores, Cornell is testing out replacing those $1 bins with a "first impressions" area that highlights certain items. 

* He's giving himself three years to deliver on the improvements he wants to make at Target. He tells Fortune, "there’s nothing we’re talking about where someone’s going to say, ‘Wow, I’ve never seen that before...they will add up to a very bold change for the brand and the business … If we execute the plan over the next few years, you will say, ‘Boy, Target made a huge transformation.’