Target's top grocery exec out amid food section struggles

Target's top grocery executive is leaving the company months after the retail giant announced disappointing results that analysts blamed partly on its struggling food section.

Both the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and the Wall Street Journal report Anne Dament will leave Target on Nov. 18, about 18 months after she joined the company. Target didn't give a reason for Dament's departure.

In announcing her hire in April 2015, Target said Dament was charged with driving "food reinvention'' at the Minneapolis-based company. But after Target announced drops in sales, income and customer traffic in August, analysts said its grocery section was partly to blame.

Grocery sales represent about 20 per cent of Target's total business, but it has seen disappointing results from perishables like fruits and vegetables.