BENTONVILLE, AR - Under the reins of new CEO Doug McMillon, Wal-Mart is making waves again with an announcement of a major personnel changes in its U.S. merchandising operations. 13 new executives, seven of whom are women, will be taking over a wide range of Wal-Mart departments.
A company memo obtained by Bloomberg written by Duncan Mac Naughton, U.S. Chief Merchandising Officer for Wal-Mart, reveals that leadership hopes the changes will boost growth and efficiency at Wal-Mart.
“We continue to talk about the changing customer, recognizing their needs and more efficiently serving them,” Mac Naughton said. “These moves provide a more specialized service to our customers, while also creating better alignment and a greater visibility across our business.”
According to reporters at The City Wire, among the new executives is 20 year company veteran Scott Huff who will be taking over as Executive Vice President in overseeing U.S. merchandising operations. Other promotions include the assignment of John Aden to Executive Vice President of Innovation and Michelle Gloeckler to Executive Vice President of Consumables and U.S. Manufacturing.
These promotions join a host of recent changes to Wal-Mart's leadership structure as McMillon works to revitalize U.S. growth. Sales and profit numbers failed to meet expectations last quarter and so far forecasts for next quarter's profits do the same. While analysts project earnings to be $1.28/share for Q2, Wal-Mart's internal numbers have the figure closer to $1.15/share to $1.25/share. Altogether these poor metrics have led to a 3.7% decline in Wal-Mart stock this year. For more information on Wal-Mart's latest financials click here.
It is this trend that McMillon hopes to reverse with this shakeup of U.S. leadership.
