BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Wal-Mart Stores here said Friday that John Menzer, vice chairman, will retire on March 1 after 12 years with the company. Wal-Mart said Menzer's responsibilities for major support functions will move into the individual businesses to achieve tighter focus, alignment and accountability, with Eduardo Castro-Wright, president and chief executive officer of Wal-Mart Stores U.S. taking responsibility for logistics and real estate; Lee Scott, CEO, taking over information systems; and Mike Duke, vice chairman, taking over global procurement. Menzer joined Wal-Mart in 1995 as chief financial officer; he was named president and CEO of Wal-Mart International in 1999, where he led the acquisition of Asda in the United Kingdom and other businesses in Mexico, Brazil, Central America and Japan. He was named vice chairman in 2005, a position in which he helped develop the company's U.S. real-estate strategy of maximizing capital efficiency and slowing the opening of new stores.

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