Target CEO Brian Cornell will step down from his role in February, with longtime employee Michael Fiddelke tapped to replace him.

Cornell, who has led the Minneapolis retailer since 2014, will become the executive chair of Target's Board of Directors, and will be replaced by 49-year-old Fiddelke, who joined the company as an intern more than 20 years ago and has risen to the level of COO.

The announcement was made Wednesday morning as the Minneapolis retailer announced 2nd quarter results that show it continues to struggle with slumping sales and in-store traffic.

While results showing a 0.9% drop in net sales and 3.2% drop in comparable store sales were better than Wall Street analyst expectations, Target is maintaining its full-year forecast of a "low-single digit decline in sales."

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