NEW YORK — Target named an insider as its next chief executive officer Wednesday, a decision that comes as the discount retailer tries to reverse a persistent sales malaise and to revive its reputation as the place to go for affordable but stylish products.

Minneapolis-based Target said CEO Brian Cornell, who has led the company for 11 years, would step down on Feb. 1. The board of directors chose Chief Operating Officer Michael Fiddelke, a 20-year Target veteran, to succeed him.

Target, which has about 1,980 U.S. stores, has struggled to find its footing since inflation caused pinched shoppers to curtail their discretionary spending. Customers have complained of messy stores with merchandise that did not reflect the expensive-looking but budget-priced niche that long ago earned the retailer the jokingly posh nickname “Tarzhay.”

Consumer boycotts since late January, when Target joined rival Walmart and a number of other prominent American brands in scaling back corporate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, have compounded its predicament.

Some retail analysts were surprised the board did not pick a candidate from outside the company to turn things around. Target’s stock price was down more than 8% in early morning trading after the company announced both Fiddelke’s appointment and another quarter of disappointing sales.

“The Street was looking for a fresh pair of eyes that might bring a solution to two years of stumbles,” Stacey Widlitz, president of investment research firm SW Retail Advisors, said while noting that she thinks investors should give Fiddelke a chance.