CMO Fleming Resigns at Wal-Mart

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.