Target veered away from tradition on Thursday, when it announced that it hired an outsider for the company's CEO position instead of promoting one of its top executives.

Brian Cornell, Target's new CEO, used to be the chief executive at Sam's Club, Michael Stores and Safeway, until he joined PepsiCo Americas Foods in 2012.

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In a statement released on Thursday, Cornell said he is deeply "humbled" and "honored" that Target hired him as its new executive and for being its first CEO who came from a different company.

After the series of setbacks Target has went through, Cornell was hired by the company to help it get back on its feet.

Retail analyst Michael Exstein from Credit Suisse said that even though Cornell has a lot of management experience, he lacks the "depth of experience" to give the company the turnaround it needs.

Another analyst, Mark Miller from William Blair, said Cornell's resume is "lighter" and not as extensive as all the other CEO candidates.

Still, other economists are pointing out to all the positive changes Cornell has done in Sam's Club including helping increase the store's sales by up to 5.1 percent.

However, other industry watchers are still uncertain of Cornell's capacity to make a positive impact on Target.  "Target needed to land a big fish to turn things around and set a future course," said Planet Retail director Sandy Skrovan.

As Target's new chief executive, Cornell will be facing different challenges in getting the company back in game as one of the lead discount retailers in the west.

During the holiday season in 2013, Target faced one of the biggest blows in the company when hackers were able to get into the company's database and stole customers' personal and payment information.

The incident caused a dramatic decrease in shoppers' confidence in the company which reflected on the resulting sales and profits.

Target encountered a setback in Canada in 2013 when it lost US$941 million after trying to open more than 100 stores in less than a year. The prices were too high and shoppers were not patronizing the store and its products.

Targets spokeswoman Dustee Jenkins said they know they have disappointed Canadian customers and that they will be fixing the problem. "We know we have work to do in Canada," she said.

TagsTarget, CEO