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Bill "What Rosy Jobs Numbers?" Simon Is Out At Walmart
There are consequences to speaking publicly about the real state of the economy. After 8 years of service, Walmart CEO Bill Simon has been replaced by Greg Foran as President and CEO of the behemoth retailer. This comes just 2 week after Simon questioned the validity of the government's "rosy jobs numbers" on CNBC and several quarters of weak performance at the company (due to a weak economy). Walmart's press release explains that the new CEO has "a passion for fresh food" and is "one of the most talented retailers ever met." We are sure these are crucial factors to overcome the stagnating incomes of America for the largest retailer...
Walmart Names Greg Foran President and CEO of Walmart U.S.
Today, Walmart (NYSE: WMT) announced that Greg Foran, 53, has been promoted to President and CEO of Walmart U.S. Foran succeeds Bill Simon who has been in the role since June 2010 and will be transitioning out of the company.
Foran will assume his responsibilities on August 9 and will report directly to Walmart President and CEO, Doug McMillon. Simon will be available on a consulting basis for the next six months to ensure a seamless transition.
“Greg is one of the most talented retailers I’ve ever met. His depth of knowledge and global experience will bring a fresh perspective to our business,” said McMillon. “His passion for fresh food, experience in general merchandise and commitment to e-commerce will help us serve our customers even more effectively for years to come.”
“During Bill’s eight years of service to Walmart, his passion for our mission, dedication to our associates and our customers, and innovative thinking pushed us forward,” said McMillon. “From the very beginning, his vision led us to lower the cost of health care through our $4 prescription offering. And, most recently, he put us on a path to future growth with small formats and efforts that integrate digital and physical retail.”
A 35-year retail veteran, Foran joined the company in October 2011 and became President and CEO of Walmart China in March 2012. While leading the business in China, the team made significant progress with its assortment, pricing, store operations and compliance as Foran led strategic investments in the supply chain and improved the store portfolio. He was promoted to President and CEO of Walmart Asia earlier this year.
Prior to Walmart, Foran held a number of roles with Woolworths, the leading retailer in Australia and New Zealand. He served as the managing director of supermarkets, liquor and petrol with responsibility for more than $40 billion in sales at that time. Under Foran’s leadership, the business grew sales and market share in a strong competitive market. Earlier in his career, Foran served as general manager of Big W, Woolworth’s industry leading discount store business and as general manager of Dick Smith Electronics.
“I’ve worked closely with Greg for the past few years and I’ve seen firsthand his passion for retail. I’m confident that Greg’s strong leadership skills and alignment with our culture will serve our customers and associates well,” McMillon said. “I’m excited about what he will bring to this important part of our business.”
“Being asked to lead the Walmart U.S. business is a privilege that I don’t take lightly,” said Foran. “I am excited to get started. The needs of our customers are changing dramatically and we have an enormous opportunity to serve them in new and different ways. We must be fierce advocates for our customers, work meticulously to exceed their expectations and earn their trust every day.”
During his tenure as President and CEO of Walmart U.S., Simon led a turnaround that reinvigorated the company’s focus on everyday low costs, everyday low prices and an increased product assortment. He also created more career opportunities for associates, launched a U.S. manufacturing revitalization and committed the company to hire more U.S. veterans.
“Whether we’re helping associates earn more for their families or providing customers affordable prices so they can put food on the dinner table, Walmart is a company that is, truly, changing people’s lives,” said Simon. “It’s been an honor to work for Walmart over the past eight years, and this felt like the right time to move on and focus on my next opportunity. I look forward to helping the company as much as I can over the next six months.”
The company will announce Foran’s successor as President and CEO of Walmart Asia at a later date.
* * *
Nice work if you can get it...
- *WAL-MART: FORAN TO GET ANNUAL SALARY $950,000
- *WMT'S FORAN ELIGIBLE FOR INCENTIVE PAYMENT 240% OF BASE SALARY
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“Whether we’re helping associates earn more for their families by getting them on foodstamps and other taxpayer funded assistance or providing customers affordable prices by outsourcing literally everything to the cheapest labor market possible so they can put something that by outward appears is food on the dinner table, Walmart is a company that is, truly, changing people’s lives,” said Simon.
There, fixed it for him.
Bill SImon didn't read the memo and must now be punished for it: Truth is treason in the Empire of lies
greg must be very good at hiding the numbers and keeping ones public mouth closed, ego his china duty...bill just told some truth and out he is..it must be very-very bad economic fix we are in, if a little truth about UE gets a top CEO fired,
Remember guys, it's ALWAYS OK to blame the weather. It is NEVER OK to blame fictitious government numbers.
"[ Foran, 53 ] A 35-year retail veteran..."
Thirty-five year "retail veteran," starting at age 18 ? I will have to push my resume back to those old high school days at Carl's Jr., adding a couple of years to my "veteran" status.
He was either punished, or he already saw the writing on the wall, and took the opportunity to speak the truth.
If I knew I was getting fired/transition out of the company, I would speak a lot of truths.
You clearly don't belong to the 'Club'.
FORWARD SOVIET!
"It’s the same club they use to beat you over the head with all day long when they tell you what to believe. All day long, beating you over the head, and their media, telling you what to believe,.what to think, and what to buy." - The great late George Carlin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acLW1vFO-2Q
"It’s the same club they use to beat you over the head with all day long when they tell you what to believe. All day long, beating you over the head, and their media, telling you what to believe,.what to think, and what to buy." - The great late George Carlin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acLW1vFO-2Q
"He was either punished, or he already saw the writing on the wall, and took the opportunity to speak the truth."
I don't think he was trying to warn anyone. I believe that he saw the graffiti on the wall, didn't want to ride the ship down and so spoke truth to power so he would get "fired" with severance and all instead of resigning with less.
Funny thing was, I thought that when I was reading his comments on the economy, and two-weeks later he's out. LOL
Walmart is now such a big chunk of the US economy that it's CEO has to abide by the same unwritten free speech limitations that apply to the NYT and the WSJ.
Walmart was let off easy, this time.
There was an article in the local paper last night that said that more than two-thirds of this state's school districts had enough students living in poverty to qualify the district for federal breakfast and lunch programs for kids.
What fucking jobs? What fucking recovery? What fucking planet are these people on?
I was at a restaurant last night enjoying a simple little birthday celebration. Of the three guys there and all of us are probably about six figure guys. One had lost his job and was struggling to find new work. He said he was usually prepared but this one caught him unprepared. I see the writing on the wall at my company and need to float resume's. The third guy was a financial advisor which I thought was interesting. Odds are he will not be selling us any new investments.
My point is that what you see in your own personal experience is probably more accurate than the government data.
The flip side is as more people lose work or at lease go flatline to negative on income the draw on government programs grows proportionally. That does not include the new flood of poor illegal immigrants swamping the southern borders as we speak. They get free stuff, too.
So many ex-butchers are now financial planners. I'm skeptical of that expertise.
Indeed, the punishment will be to go forth and live life on the millions he has been paid and to cash out his stock options package at any time he wishes. If only we were all punished like ol Bill.
I'm sure Greg Foran's time served as WallyWorld's CEO CHINA will continue to exploit the imports of China manufactured "fud" into amrkn mouths.
China buys Smithfields pork
Crazy Pig Diarrhea Epidemic May Ruin Your Dinner Planswhere was your chicken choked?
nom nom amrka!
Did Walmart assign a security guard to accompany Bill Simon as he cleaned out his desk? Does Walmart follow the Chicago method, have high level appointees sign an undated letter of resignation before the get the job? Obama must have blown his top when he read of Simon's comments describing the Great American Economic Disaster.
Fuckbama? Read?
Doubtful.
More like some asshole on his staff did, and mentioned it to Barry whilst he was getting his peanut balls washed on the course...or in the steam room....
or not....
Sam Walton must be spinning at several thousand RPM by now....
Woolworths.
Hmm, what happened to them?
DavidC
That he kept that dog of a retailer going in Australia for a DECADE or more past it's US counterpart's demise probably means something. Kinda like if he came from Radio Shack (which is still in business, as far as anyone knows), it would mean something. WHAT it would mean, I have no idea.
This new guy sounds so fucking great i wanna work for Wallymart. s/
Declining product quality, rampant inflation, primary customer base poor transitioning to serf class and middle class transitioning directly to serfs while still being the tax donkeys - all these things can be cured through top management shuffles and new excel spredsheet templates for the MBAs? Smartest in the room - gigglesnort.
They are thinking up the new acronym already!
pods
University of Arkansas at Fayetteville is Wal-Mart's incubator... they built a replica of harvard business school so wallyworld can have a nice place to train the scores of MBAs being spit out every year. They also hire ~5% of each graduating law school class (not the top recruits, who go work for prestigious firms mind you). Pretty sure that a material portion of the MBA course work is directly done with walmart... Not the best and brightest, but walmart gets them early and often...
Not beyond question that these local yokals have a lot more common sense and, uh, down home values, than their Harvard counterparts.
I suspect many Harvard MBAs would consider humble Walmart infradig.
Bringing in the guy from Walmart China. I guess that tells you everything you need to know about what Walmart's board thinks of the future of the US market.
Plus, you also want the guy who has hands-on experience working under a Communist government.
Been to a Walmart lately?
Ain't a whole lot of fresh food being bought. The aisle to asswidth ratio has been doing a Baumgartner.
Sales are down because they had to make the aisles bigger to allow two way traffic.
Think of it like trying to drive two Escalades down the same street in an old European town.
pods
"Been to Walmart lately?" No.
I really hate going into that store, but sometimes I have to. Every fricking time I do, I end up in the aisle blocked by two phatties in motorscooters. AHHHHHHH!!!!!!
Stop mocking the "disabled"!
I bet both carts were working.....
I used to try and get carts with the clanky wheels just so people can hear me coming and get the fuck out of the way. Well, that's good in theory, but when the fatty has fat over her ears and couldn't hear a freight train next to her (or is high as hell), then it isn't much help. Sometimes I'll just sit there and see how long it takes them to realize I'm waiting on them, and I don't think hardly any would if I didn't say something. Virtually everyone is polite upon learning they're wasting others' time, but that doesn't change the fact that they're pretty much in a different world.
was the fatty fat buying a small dinner salad?
The aisles now have to accomodate golf carts to haul around the supersized asses of people who have been eating the GMO food that Walmart has been selling.
foot traffic way down in WMT. I see it very friday at 3PM. Been do the WMT slog for 3 years w my aging mother who insists on buying catfood there (and only catfood).
WalFart's vegetable prices are equal to or more than Jewel and of a similar quality namely sheeeet. Which explains why where I'm from in Illinois Aldi is popping stores right across the highway from every Walmart where they can.
WalFart beef is what's not for dinner, the cuts look like they were chopped off a sick cow by some filth wetback in a dirty meat locker and taste like the cow was tortured for an hour before it was executed.
Yep. Walmart, via Sam's Club, offers a lot better quality produce at a much more competitive price, albeit in larger portions often times. Other chains tend to have better quality produce though, sometimes at cheaper prices, but virtually always at least as expensive as walmart (alleged low cost leader).
As produce has increased in price, the local farmer's market has exploded in popularity. Imagine that.
Wow, Walmart is putting grillmarks on the steaks before you even cook it!
Oh wait, those are where the jockey was whipping it.
ht/ Rodney Dangerfield
pods
Those are tread marks.
Welcome to the show Greg
Simon didn't get the axe for anything he said in any interview; corporate boards need leaders that are realists. The guy's gone for some other reason....probably some competitive threat he didn't see, or some obvious failure to execute on some opportunity.
"corporate boards need leaders that are realists."
ROFLOL!!!
A realist doesn't talk like a realist when it's for public consumption.
rubbish
I suspect the Waltons got a phonecall from the NSA. (Minutes after the NSA got a phone call from the controllers.)
in today's economy higher number of jobs is a good thing , it = growth and bla,bla,bla. as a humanity shouldn't we be interested in having as less ''jobs'' as possible?
I go the local WalFuck weekly.
More adipose cells in one building...jesus H.
China shit. Picked over lousy "fresh food", and shitty meats. I mean....shitty.
Fat assholes clogging the lanes. Cheap shit all over.
I buy American made products. Newman's Own as an example - excellent prices.
I try to go late at night, when all the fat asses and dregs are not in the store.
Aldi - better prices and produce.
Fuck WalShit
Wednesday nights and sunday mornings are pretty solid due to the church crowd being absent. The only problem with weekend trips (sunday) is stocking... which may or may not have kept up with demand the prior day.
Gosh. I bet millions of Americans have no choice but to go to Walmart for most of their groceries.
Greg's passion for fresh food will no doubt draw in the SNAP card users by the droves.
Passion for fresh food and stale lies.
going to walmart reminds me of all the shit I don't need
going to walmart reminds me of all the shit that i'm not going to buy at walmart. or at all, for that matter, until the current administration stops occupying the people's white house.
Fresh food? Meh.
Fresh® Food™
Like we needed another reason NOT to go to Walmart? The Bible said that those who seek the truth will be ridiculed.
“His passion for fresh food,
Provided it is GMO
NSA 1, WalMart CEO 0. However, I doubt 'ole Bill will be checking directly into the poor house.
If you can't lie, you don't belong in corporate America.
It's gonna be fun when this thing burns down
This is your brain on Wal-Mart:
http://www.retailhellunderground.com/.a/6a00e54f10a0988834017c3348f44697...
B 4 we get all teary-eyed at Simon being let go, let's see his severance package, please.
WalMart is rapidly becoming what the old "GUM" stores were to the Soviet Union. Cheap, not inexpensive and very much an appendage of the state.
If the outgoing CEO of Walmart's dead corpse was sodomized by the angry mob that killed him, I would undertstand.
Just make sure that your 'fresh food' at Walmart has time to 'thaw' before serving it....
Bill Simon still has his integrity.
Beware the pink slime.
It's name is Foran.
Stay out of WelfareMart. You're just subsidizing your own enslavement.
"You can question the government, so long as you come to the same conclusions."