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CMO Fleming Resigns at Wal-Mart

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — John Fleming, the chief merchandising officer at Wal-Mart Stores and architect of its recent remerchandising strategy, has resigned, the retailer here said Friday.

Jon Springer, Executive Editor

July 2, 2010

1 Min Read
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JON SPRINGER

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — John Fleming, the chief merchandising officer at Wal-Mart Stores and architect of its recent remerchandising strategy, has resigned, the retailer here said Friday.

His resignation was announced in a memo to employees from Bill Simon, who was named president and chief executive officer of Wal-Mart U.S. earlier in the week.

Fleming, a former Target executive, had served at Wal-Mart for 10 years, the last five as its CMO. He was behind Wal-Mart’s “Win Play Show” remerchandising strategy and SKU rationalization at the heart of its Project Impact transformation.

Fleming “made a personal decision to leave the company,” Simon said in the memo.

Jack Sinclair, executive vice president and general manager of grocery, will lead food and health and wellness merchandising, Simon said, while John Westling will lead general merchandise merchandising while the company searches for a replacement for Fleming.

Simon also said Friday that Gisel Ruiz has been promoted to executive vice president of Wal-Mart People, the company’s human resources department. Ruiz will be responsible for human resources, talent management and compensation.

About the Author

Jon Springer

Executive Editor

Jon Springer is executive editor of Winsight Grocery Business with responsibility for leading its digital news team. Jon has more than 20 years of experience covering consumer business and retail in New York, including more than 14 years at the Retail/Financial desk at Supermarket News. His previous experience includes covering consumer markets for KPMG’s Insiders; the U.S. beverage industry for Beverage Spectrum; and he was a Senior Editor covering commercial real estate and retail for the International Council of Shopping Centers. Jon began his career as a sports reporter and features editor for the Cecil Whig, a daily newspaper in Elkton, Md. Jon is also the author of two books on baseball. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English-Journalism from the University of Delaware. He lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. with his family.

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