December 15, 2004

Walmart Executives Fired

UPDATE 3/26/05: Thomas Coughlin has been fired.

Reader Reid Davis sends in a scoop:

BENTONVILLE � A number of Wal-Mart executives have been terminated, a company spokesman confirmed Tuesday night. "Several executives in the Wal-Mart Home Office have been terminated from the company in the past several days," said Jay Allen, a company spokesman.

Three sources told The Daily Record that among those let go was Jim H. Haworth, executive vice president of operations for the Wal-Mart Stores Division.

Allen declined to confirm any names.

Allen also declined to state the reasons the executives were terminated, citing privacy issues. He would not say whether the terminations were because of a recent incident or a long-term investigation. "Our management team, well, you regret losing people, but the team is deep enough the operations will not be impacted (by the recent terminations)," Allen said.

The firings have no connection with Tom Coughlin�s pending retirement, Allen said. Coughlin is vice chairman of the board of directors of Wal-Mart.

He will retire Jan. 24.

They have more names, but without further confirmation, journalistic ethics prevent the paper from releasing them.

UPDATE 12/16/04: Some more information is available from Bloomberg:

``There's an enormous amount of pressure building up at the executive and upper middle management levels to make the company more like a global fortune 50 company,'' said Richard Hastings, chief economist at Bernard Sands LLC, in Charlotte, North Carolina. ``They have been a home-grown, home-spun company. They're trying to make sure they look to the future and that future has to include fewer law suits, less negative press, and the rebound in sales momentum.''

Haworth was among officers who addressed analysts and shareholders at the company's annual meeting in June. He appeared on stage with about a dozen other officers to provide updates on the company's various divisions.

And The New York Post names some names:
Ken Reese, director of operations for Wal-Mart's Tire & Lube Express; Terry Pharr, a senior vice president; and Chad Madison, who worked for the company's Neighborhood Market stores, were also said to have lost their jobs, according to the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal.

Posted by Kevin on December, 15 2004 at 11:47 AM