Target Loses Top Marketing Executive

SN STAFF

MINNEAPOLIS — Michael Francis, Target Corp.'s chief marketing officer, is leaving the retailer to join J.C. Penney Co., the two retailers said Monday.

Francis also had been overseeing Target's expansion into Canada, as Tony Fisher, president of Target Canada, was reporting to Francis. Fisher will report to Gregg Steinhafel for now, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Francis had been with Marshall Field's when that company was acquired by Target in 1990. He had been head of marketing at Target for the last 10 years.

Target said other executives would perform his responsibilities when the retailer seeks a successor.