MINNEAPOLIS–After leading the retailer for 14 years, Bob Ulrich will retire as chairman and chief executive officer of Target Corp. on May 1. He will be succeeded by Gregg Steinhafel, the current president. Ulrich, who turns 65 in April, will stay on as chairman through the end of fiscal 2008.
Ulrich began his retail career as a merchandising trainee in 1967 at Dayton’s, the former department store division of Target Corp.
He later held myriad posts in stores and merchandising at the company. Ulrich was named president of Target Stores in 1984, CEO of the division in 1987, and was named chairman and CEO of the corporation in 1994.
During Ulrich’s tenure, Target nearly tripled its sales and store base and increased its net earnings nearly nine-fold, the company said in a statement.
Steinhafel joined Target in 1979 and held a variety of merchandising, stores and global sourcing positions until he was named executive vice president of merchandising in 1994. Steinhafel was named to his current post in 1999.