Mike Duke

Power 50 Ranking: 2 Title: President and CEO Company: Wal-Mart Stores Key Developments: Project Impact stresses value more than price in an effort to appeal to a broader demographic. What's Next: Renovating supercenters to meet merchandising and marketing goals.

Mike Duke, the newly installed president and chief executive officer of Wal-Mart Stores, Bentonville, Ark., is prepared to seize the moment.

With Wal-Mart in the midst of a major changeover to make itself more appealing to a broader mix of middle-class shoppers both during the recession and once it’s over, Duke is poised to preside over a series of initiatives that could reinvigorate the company for the next quarter-century just as previous initiatives positioned it as an industry powerhouse during the last quarter-century.

Speaking to shareholders at the company’s annual meeting in early June, Duke said the weakened economy provides a perfect opportunity for Wal-Mart to make further strides to grow its business.

“This is not a time to slow down,” he declared. “This is not a time to take comfort in our success. This is Wal-Mart’s time to look to the future and seize the opportunity to truly lead around the world.”

Duke, 59, was named president and CEO in February. He joined Wal-Mart in 1995 — after 23 years with Federated and May department stores — to oversee the logistics, distribution and administrative divisions of the company’s U.S. operations.

“Duke will certainly continue to be extraordinarily active in utilizing best practices from Wal-Mart international across all of its U.S. stores,” Bryan Roberts, global research director for London-based Planet Retail, said. “The influence of the [London-based] Asda stores is already evident at supercenters in Canada, remodeled units in Texas and particularly at the new Marketside format in terms of presentation of chilled, convenience and fresh foods, along with store design and graphics.”

Patricia Edwards, an analyst with Storehouse Partners, Seattle, said Duke’s influence is likely to go beyond the company’s food operations. “He’s a big-picture thinker, and the company has been talking about how much more it’s sharing ideas from the U.S. and from Mexico with other regions,” she said.

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Wal-Mart: Comps Improving
Oct 17, 2011, Supermarket News, By ELLIOT ZWIEBACH
BENTONVILLE, Ark. Wal-Mart Stores here said last week comparable sales at its U.S. locations were positive in July, August and September, though company officials stopped short of indicating whether its third quarter would end a string of 10 straight quarters of negative comps. July was part of the second quarter, and while comps were positive for the two months that followed, the company said it

Castro-Wright to Retire From Wal-Mart in July
Sep 27, 2011, Supermarket News, By SN STAFF
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Wal-Mart Stores here said Tuesday Eduardo Castro-Wright plans to retire July 1, 2012.

Millennials Sexier but Boomers Still the Prize
Sep 26, 2011, Supermarket News, By PHIL LEMPERT Contributing Editor plempert@supermarketguru.com
At food and beverage conferences these days, there is a lot more discussion about segmenting shoppers which ones are more valuable than others, and why it is critical to market specifically to them. Each of these presentations invariably includes some kind of metrics that compare the dollar value (sometimes the most ambitious presenters even offer a look at the lifetime dollar value) of each of these

Wal-Mart Encourages Women's Empowerment
Sep 14, 2011, Supermarket News, By SN STAFF
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Wal-Mart Stores here said Wednesday it plans to help 200,000 women from low-income households gain job skills and access higher education as part of its newly announced Global Women's Economic Empowerment Initiative.

2011 Power 50: No. 1 MIKE DUKE
Jul 18, 2011, Supermarket News
CEO/Wal-Mart Stores NEW DEVELOPMENT: Led return to EDLP, product selection. WHAT'S NEXT: Growth including small stores in big cities. Mike Duke's strategy for Wal-Mart Stores may seem like a page out of the past, but he's focused clearly on the future. In remarks at the company's annual meeting in June, the chief executive officer of the world's largest retailer detailed his vision for reaching a

SN's 2011 Power 50
Jul 18, 2011, Supermarket News
SN's 2011 Power 50: People (and The

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