Walmart's U.S. Stores Chief to Quit Retailer -- Update
11 October 2019 - 9:53AM
Dow Jones News
By Sarah Nassauer
Walmart Inc. said the executive in charge of its U.S. stores,
Greg Foran, is leaving the company and will be replaced by the head
of its Sam's Club warehouse chain.
Mr. Foran, a native of New Zealand, is taking over as chief
executive officer of Air New Zealand Ltd. He will stay at Walmart
through Jan. 31. He will be replaced by John Furner, 45 years old,
who has been running the Sam's Club warehouse chain since 2017.
Mr. Foran, 58, took over Walmart's biggest division in 2014 and
led a turnaround in the U.S. by pulling back on new-store openings
and investing to improve existing stores.
Mr. Foran is known as a demanding, detail-oriented boss who
worked long hours and often took other executives with him on a
company plane on Saturdays to visit stores. He has focused on
reducing the inventory in stores and more consistently stocking
shelves to boost sales, improving customer service, as well as
cutting spending on store labor to invest in such new projects as
online grocery delivery.
He clashed with the head of Walmart's U.S. e-commerce
operations, Marc Lore, over spending and strategy, according to
people familiar with the matter. Neither Messrs. Foran nor Lore
immediately returned requests for comment.
Walmart has posted four years of strong sales gains as the
retail company captured market share from struggling competitors
and expanded online. In August, the company raised its forecasts
for U.S. comparable sales for the full year. Its shares are trading
near all-time highs.
Walmart gets two-thirds of its $514.4 billion in annual revenue
from its roughly 4,700 U.S. stores and e-commerce operations. U.S.
stores are also the profit engine of the company as it invests
heavily to grow online.
Under Mr. Furner, the Sam's Club business closed 63 stores and
cut about 10,000 jobs last year to compete better with Costco
Wholesale Corp. The sales at Sam's have grown during his time at
the helm, with comparable sales up 1.2% in the most recent
quarter.
Like Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, Mr. Furner is a Walmart veteran
who joined the company as an hourly store worker and worked his way
up the ranks. Mr. Furner's father was a Walmart executive and still
works part time at a Walmart store near the company's Bentonville,
Ark., headquarters.
Following his exit, Mr. Foran will receive payments totaling
$4.8 million through January 2022, according to a securities
filing. Mr. Furner's new base salary will be $925,000.
Walmart didn't immediately name a new Sam's Club leader.
Write to Sarah Nassauer at sarah.nassauer@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 10, 2019 18:38 ET (22:38 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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