Cara Sylvester

Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer Target

Last Reviewed: October 3, 2026

Executive Summary

Cara Sylvester became Chief Merchandising Officer of Target in February 2026, responsible for what goes on its shelves: assortment, product design, owned brands, partner collaborations and merchandising capabilities. She has been at Target since 2007. In the four years before her current role she ran the guest experience, a remit that took in marketing, the Target Circle loyalty program, same-day services, the Target Plus marketplace and Roundel, the retail media business the company says grew to multiple billions of dollars. Earlier she ran the Home business and Beauty. Her career has swung between merchandising and the digital and marketing side, and the new role brings that digital experience back to the buying desk.

Career Highlights

• Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer of Target since February 2026.
• Chief Guest Experience Officer, May 2022 to February 2026.
• Chief Marketing and Digital Officer, February 2021 to May 2022.
• Senior Vice President, Home, 2019 to 2021.
• Member of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum advisory council.

Professional Journey

Sylvester earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MBA at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. She joined Target in 2007, starting in corporate strategy and then working as a buyer across both frequency and discretionary businesses.

As vice president of Beauty she launched the Beauty Concierge program, which Target describes as the first expert guidance and education service of its kind in mass retail. From March 2019 she led the Home business as senior vice president, growing sales and share while expanding its digital presence, according to the company.

She then moved to the guest-facing side. From February 2021 she was executive vice president and chief marketing and digital officer, and from May 2022 chief guest experience officer, integrating stores, digital, generative AI, social media and marketing. Target credits her with revamping its Target Circle loyalty program, scaling same-day services, quadrupling the size of the Target Plus third-party marketplace and growing Roundel into a multi-billion-dollar retail media business and one of its most significant profit contributors.

In February 2026 she became executive vice president and chief merchandising officer, leading the teams behind Target’s design- and style-driven curation strategy across assortment, product design, owned brands and partner collaborations. Outside the company she is a member of the advisory council of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum.

Her new role sits at the center of the first of the four priorities in Target’s fiscal 2025 annual report, leading with merchandising authority through design-led, trend-right assortments. About 30 percent of merchandise sales come from owned and exclusive brands, according to the report, which makes the owned-brand portfolio she now oversees a large part of the business.

Education

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Bachelor’s degree

Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

MBA