The two executives are also swapping territories. Menzer, 54, will take over the U.S. business after serving as chief executive officer of Wal-Mart International. Duke, 55, will run the international division after heading Wal-Mart Stores U.S.A., Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart said in a statement today. The retailer also promoted two Wal-Mart and two Sam's Club executives and hired a new vice president from McDonald's Corp. for its warehouse chain.
``It's interesting they flipped the jobs,'' said Britt Beemer, chairman of market research firm America's Research Group in Charleston, South Carolina. ``They want the future CEO to have experience on the domestic and international side equally. It may be that Wal-Mart looks at the international side as equal to the U.S.''
Scott, who took over as CEO in January 2000, probably won't step down anytime soon, said Todd Jones at Philadelphia-based PNC Advisors, which has $50 billion in assets including Wal-Mart shares. The shares of the world's largest retailer have fallen 29 percent under Scott, 56, who's remodeling stores and adding merchandise such as $2,000 flat-panel televisions to lure upper- income shoppers and revive sluggish sales.
Eduardo Castro-Wright, 50, formerly chief operating officer of the U.S. store division, replaces Duke. Pat Curren, 41, formerly a division manager, was named executive vice president for U.S. store operations, reporting to Castro-Wright.
Castro-Wright
Wal-Mart in January named Castro-Wright chief operating officer of its U.S. stores after heading the company's Mexico unit since 2002. He served as president of Honeywell International Inc.'s Honeywell Transportation and Power Systems Worldwide before joining Wal-Mart.
His expertise in merchandising and store operations will help the retailer compete with Target Corp., whose sales outpace Wal-Mart's because the stores are cleaner, better lit and stocked with more fashionable merchandise, said James Russell Jr., director of core equity strategy at Fifth Third Asset Management in Cincinnati, with $22 billion in assets including Wal-Mart shares.
Castro-Wright's appointment ``to us is the most significant announcement,'' he said.
Sam's Club
McDonald's executive Mark Goodman, 37, has been hired as vice president of marketing and membership at Sam's Club, effective Oct. 1. Sam's also promoted Greg Spragg, 48, to executive vice president for merchandising and replenishment and Greg Johnston, 40, to head of operations. All will report to Doug McMillon, who was named CEO in August and said he will push the strategy of adding more luxury goods.
Wal-Mart also named Jim Walton, the youngest son of founder Sam Walton, to its board of directors. Walton, 57, is chairman and chief executive of Arvest Bank Group, a Bentonville bank with $7.5 billion in assets. He replaces his brother John, who in June died in when an ultra-light plane he built crashed in Wyoming.
Menzer joined Wal-Mart in 1995 from Ben Franklin Retail Stores Inc. and became head of its international division in June 1999. During his tenure at the company, international sales have grown from 2 percent of the total to 20 percent.
``Menzer's been successful there and that's been a testament to his leadership capabilities,'' Jones said.
Menzer announced earlier today that Wal-Mart took a controlling stake in Japanese supermarket chain Seiyu Ltd. to boost Wal-Mart's presence in the world's second-largest economy. Seiyu, with 405 stores, has reported net losses in the past two years and forecasts a 7.5 billion yen loss this year.
Duke
Duke also joined the company in 1995 and worked in logistics and administration before being promoted to head the Wal-Mart Stores division in April 2003.
``We have several people who represent talent who could extend it into that role,'' said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Sarah Clark, when asked if Menzer and Duke were being groomed to replace Scott.
Menzer and Duke are filling a void created with the departure of Thomas Coughlin. Coughlin quit the board in March at the company's request following an internal probe of alleged misappropriation of funds. Wal-Mart sued Coughlin, 56, for fraud in July, claiming that for five years starting in 1997 he looted the company of hundreds of thousands of dollars by obtaining reimbursement for personal items like underwear and dog food.
In April, Wal-Mart said a federal grand jury was investigating Coughlin after the retailer referred the matter to a prosecutor in the Western District of Arkansas.
Sales
Wal-Mart's same-store sales have lagged behind those of No. 2 discounter Target, which offers designer items from Michael Graves and Isaac Mizrahi. Minneapolis-based Target's second- quarter same-store sales grew 6.7 percent compared with 3.5 percent for Wal-Mart.
Shares of Wal-Mart rose 28 cents to $43.82 at 4:01 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares fell 17 percent this year.
