Target CEO Brian Cornell is celebrating the best U.S. consumer environment he’s seen in his career after the retailer posted its best quarterly results in more than a decade.
“There’s no doubt that, like others, we’re currently benefiting from a very strong consumer environment — perhaps the strongest I’ve seen in my career,” Mr. Cornell told analysts on a call Wednesday, CNBC reported.
Mr. Cornell, who previously served as the CEO of Michaels and Sam’s Club, repeated the sentiment during an appearance Wednesday morning on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
“It’s a very healthy consumer environment. I’ve been doing this for a long time — I think this is the healthiest environment I’ve ever seen,” he said.
Target on Wednesday reported its strongest same-store sales growth in 13 years, raising its earnings outlook for the full year.
Mr. Cornell, who took over as Target’s Chairman and CEO in August 2014, said the company’s investments in efforts like expanding its online presence and remodeling existing locations appeared to be paying off.
“It was almost yesterday [when] people were saying, ’Stores are dead,’” he told CNBC. “We’re seeing a great consumer response, unprecedented traffic. As we go back and look, we’ve never seen traffic growth like this. But stores are a driving growth again, digital up 41 percent, the brands are connecting with our guests. So all of those investments are starting to work hand in hand.”
Target CEO: We continue to remodel stores from CNBC.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.