Target names Pepsi's Brian Cornell as CEO

Target Corp., struggling to fix a botched expansion in Canada and undo the lingering damage of a holiday hacker attack, hired former PepsiCo Inc. executive Brian Cornell as chief executive.

Cornell, 55, also will become chairman, the Minneapolis-based company said Thursday. He most recently led PepsiCo's Americas Foods unit and previously had been CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Sam's Club and craft-goods seller Michaels Stores Inc.

Cornell, the first Target CEO chosen from outside the company, takes over a retailer struggling to right itself after a data breach in the holiday season hurt its standing with customers while a bungled expansion in Canada has led to falling profit.

Gregg Steinhafel, who had been Target's CEO for about six years and worked there for 35 years, resigned in May. Steinhafel held himself personally responsible for the security attack.

Even before the data breach, which exposed the personal information of tens of millions of customers, Target had lost its way by becoming too cautious and bureaucratic, interim CEO John Mulligan, also Target's chief financial officer, said in a May interview.

Cornell took over as chief executive of PepsiCo Americas Foods in March 2012, running the company's largest division with $25 billion in revenue, according to PepsiCo.'s website.

-- Bloomberg News