• by Sarah Mahoney , Staff Writer, 8 hours ago

Target, in the middle of a management shift aimed at reviving the company's now-faded design magic, has been named by Time as its inaugural design partner for four events: The Time Women of the Year Leadership Forum & Gala, Time100 Creators, Time100 Next, and the debut of Time100 Sports.

The announcement comes just a week after Michael Fiddelke, Target's new CEO, promised that the retailer will make chasing after its former design status a key priority, reinforcing its commitment to design, style and value.

"Culture moves faster today, and so are we," he said on the recent earnings call. "You'll see a consistent cadence of tightly curated launches designed to create urgency to shop, drive traffic, and keep Target at the center of culture."

"Target is a brand that's committed to offering great style, design and value to everyone," echoes Cara Sylvester, chief merchandising officer at Target, in the announcement. "We're thrilled to be Time's first official design partner in 2026. Time has its pulse on current culture, leadership and global conversations, and together we'll create engaging moments that recognize influential people who are making a mark in culture today."

The emphasis on "culture" is no accident — it acknowledges that the company's depressing series of sales declines came about because it has fallen out of step with its core audience. Critics have blamed that on everything from tone-deaf management and lackluster merchandising to shoddy store execution and a retreat from diversity and inclusion efforts.

One could argue that Time, a company built around a magazine that's over 100 years old, isn’t exactly a fast-moving cultural juggernaut. But the company, now owned by Salesforce billionaire Marc Benioff, is in the midst of its own reinvention, producing as many as 37 events a year, a growing revenue stream the company says is helping to nudge it back towards a positive cash flow.

Neil Saunders, managing director for GlobalData, a retail research firm, tells Retail Insider that these cultural moments can add up. Target "wants to be visible to consumers and to showcase its design expertise across big occasions. This acts as a form of advertising for the brand and reinforces Target's credentials," he says via email.

And it may even be able to move the needle on brand perception, "but only if it is coherent with how Target is showing up in stores and online. Target has fallen short in these areas," he says, "so the partnership makes sense as part of a rebuilding exercise."