Beleaguered Target Corp (NYSE:TGT), the US discount retailer, has hired grocer Kroger veteran Jeff Burt as senior vice president of grocery, fresh food and beverage in the latest bid to breathe life into a flagging food business.
The role will start on April 10.
Burt, who was at Kroger for 30 years, replaces Anne Dament, who left last November after only 18 months.
Chief executive Brian Cornell is trying to reinvent Target. Last month it reported a surprise drop in full-year 2016 sales and forecast a further fall in fiscal 2017.
The Minneapolis-based retailer said it expected sales at stores open for at least a year to decline in the low-single digit percentage range in 2017, after reporting a fall of 0.5% in 2016.
Consensus estimates were expecting the company's same-store sales to increase 0.4% this year.
Net income dropped to US$817mln, or US$1.45 per share in the three months to January 28, down from US$1.43bn, or US$2.32 per share a year earlier.
Same-store sales in the quarter fell 1.5%, missing analysts forecasts of a 1.3% decline.
The retailer also reported a decline in gross margins to 26.9% from 27.9%.