While sales and traffic in Target's grocery aisles have suffered recently, Chief Executive Brian Cornell remains upbeat about the changes underway.
He added that they have owned the fact that they are disappointed with their performance so far this year.
"One tough quarter — we've got to rebound from that," he said.
"It's just going to take time for us to get credit for those changes," he told a group of reporters at Target headquarters Wednesday morning before the retailer's big fall national meeting Thursday afternoon. "It's not going to happen overnight."
Customers who might have been turned off by shopping at Target for groceries a few years ago might not realize all of the changes that are taking place, he added. So the company is also starting to highlight food more in its Wednesday circulars.
In recent months, Target has been adding hundreds of new items to its shelves including a number of organic, natural and gluten-free products and bolstering key categories for its fill-in grocery trips such as snacks, yogurt, and craft beer. It has also been going commodity by commodity to enhance its fresh produce in terms of supply chain and sourcing.
But the disruption in the stores and not enough emphasis on promotions and low prices in its messaging was one of the reasons Target cited last month for disappointing sales results last quarter. Store traffic dropped more than expected.
The challenges, along with softer electronics sales and other hiccups with the transition of its pharmacies to CVS, are expected to continue in the second half of this year with the company forecasting sales to be flat to down 2 percent.