The announcement that the Shabby Chic brand will return to Target this month under the new moniker Simply Shabby Chic is just the latest sign that the big-box discounter is trying to regain the magic that made its home department the envy of the retail world.

It will be a long road back.

Nine months into new CEO Michael Fiddelke’s tenure, Target’s financial results are improving, even if they are not setting the world on fire. Still, Wall Street likes what it’s seeing so far: The stock is up more than 50 percent since the start of the year.

In home, a combination of radical revamps of certain merchandise categories, some new brands, and much sharper pricing are having their desired impact as the retailer points to the area as one of its recent success stories.

But Target has a ways to go to get back to its enviable market leadership position, given how stale its merchandising assortment had gotten, particularly in home. Its once-legendary mix—first pioneered in the late 1990s, then updated in the late 2010s—had become too reliant on its Threshold house brand; and its one superstar label, Hearth & Hand from Magnolia Home’s Chip and Joanna Gaines, was not enough to move the merchandising needle.

The return of Shabby Chic reunites Target with Rachel Ashwell, the British-born, Los Angeles–based designer who popularized the vintage floral-driven look in the 1990s and made it a mainstay of the store’s soft home assortment for more than 10 years. The program was gradually cut back and eventually eliminated, but Target is betting that the consumer still likes the line’s sophisticated country look. Simply Shabby Chic will debut in stores on October 11, and will include holiday decor in addition to the soft home textiles that have always been at the heart of Ashwell’s brand.

In the meantime, Target has embarked upon a major reset of its existing products. More than 75 percent of its decorative home assortment was replaced over the past few months, and the company says home textiles and kids home will get the same treatment through 2027.

There have also been new brands. Hollister, an apparel nameplate from Abercrombie & Fitch, debuted a back-to-dorm program in Target stores (as well as at Hollister locations) in June, and reportedly it did well: Market research company Yipidata said during the first five weeks of its rollout, the collaboration lifted Target’s market share by 2.7 percent in decorative pillows and 2.1 percent in comforters.

Target is not just using products to get its mojo back. Earlier this month, the company announced that it was reducing prices on more than 2,000 items—on top of the cuts for over 10,000 products over the past year—and that prices are now 15 percent lower on average in its “fully refreshed” bedding assortment.

In the company’s first-quarter earnings call in May, Cara Sylvester, the company’s executive vice president and chief merchandising officer, said: “In home, we’re beginning a multiyear reinvention,” announcing there would be more to come. “We have plans to continue this journey with additional home categories like kitchen and storage in 2027,” she added.

Pointing to these early successes, in the call Fiddelke admitted there’s still much to be done. “While we’re building momentum, we’re also not yet where we aspire to be over time,” he said. “We’re focused on executing our plans and are encouraged by early guest response. As we look ahead, we also acknowledge that the broader operating environment remains uncertain.”

Target remains a work in progress. But it’s progress.

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Warren Shoulberg is the former editor in chief for several leading B2B publications. He has been a guest lecturer at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business; received honors from the International Furnishings and Design Association and the Fashion Institute of Technology; and been cited by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and other media as a leading industry expert. His Retail Watch columns offer deep industry insights on major markets and product categories.