Cornell was the chief marketing officer and an executive vice president of
Safeway Inc., from 2004 to 2007. He was CEO of
Michaels from 2007 to 2009, of
Sam's Club from 2009 to 2012, He is the chairman of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, and has been a board member since 2015. In August 2014, Cornell replaced
Gregg Steinhafel as chairman and CEO of Target. In 2019, he was named CNN's "Business CEO of the Year". In 2021, Cornell publicly stated his commitment to programs at Target to support
diversity, equity, and inclusion after the murder of
George Floyd in Minneapolis. He said. "I recognize that it's time to take it to another level, and that as CEOs, we have to be the company's head of diversity and inclusion." In 2022, Cornell received the
National Retail Federation's "Visionary" award, given each year to "an outstanding retail industry leader". In 2022, Target announced that its board of directors had eliminated the company's mandatory retirement policy that would have forced the CEO to retire at age 65. In 2023, Cornell's total compensation at Target was $18.1 million. He earned a higher annual bonus due to the company's improved profits, though his overall compensation dropped. On August 20, 2025, Target announced that its COO, Michael Fiddelke, will replace Cornell as CEO starting on February 1, 2026. ==Memberships and affiliations==