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Walmart Merchandising director Charles Redfield will step down next month.
Walmart US CEO John Furner said in an worker memo on Friday that Redfield can be leaving his position on May 1 to spend more time along with his family. He’ll remain an advisor to the corporate. Wall Street Journal he was the primary to report Redfield’s departure.
Redfield, a 32-year veteran of Walmart, is leaving as retailers navigate a tougher selling environment. Walmart in February made a weaker-than-expected forecast for the upcoming fiscal yr, saying it expects same-store sales for Walmart US to grow between 2% and a pair of.5% excluding fuel. The corporate repeated that prediction eventually week’s investor event in Tampa, Florida.
CEO Doug McMillon told CNBC that customers are more price sensitive because food, housing and other items cost more attributable to inflation. This has led to less spending on items resembling clothing and electronics.
“They only do not have that many dollars to purchase discretionary goods,” he said. “And lots of of those people have bought a variety of discretionary goods in 2020, 2021 – latest patio sets, latest TV sets – they only must have one. So the impact of the combo is something we have now to take care of and that is considered one of the the reason why our lead is where it is.”
Redfield became Walmart’s director of merchandising in January 2022, overseeing the corporate’s supplier relationships and strategy across categories starting from food to general merchandise. He began his profession at Walmart as a cashier at Sam’s Club while attending the University of Arkansas and was promoted there as an assistant manager.
Before becoming a significant retailer at Walmart, he was appointed director of merchandising for Asda, a UK supermarket chain that Walmart acquired after which sold in 2010. Later, he served as executive vp of merchandising for Sam’s Club and executive vp of food for Walmart NAS
Redfield has been a “true customer advocate,” especially as costs have increased, Furner said in a company-wide email on Friday.
“Whether or not they’re shopping online or in-store, she’s focused on ensuring customers can all the time find the products they need at the bottom possible prices. Particularly when inflation began to skyrocket, Charles and his team worked hard with suppliers to drive prices down and provides customers value after they needed it most.”
Furner said Redfield’s successor can be announced soon.