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BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart has named company veteran Latriece Watkins to the post of executive vice president and chief merchandising officer, effective immediately. She succeeds Charles Redfield, who is leaving the company this month after 32 years.
“We have a rich history of strong leaders who embrace this constant change, set bold visions for our teams and best represent the humanity that is Walmart,” Walmart U.S. president and chief executive officer John Furner wrote in an internal email announcing the move. “I have long admired those qualities in Latriece Watkins. Her enthusiasm, talent and deep experience helped establish the omni-merchandising strategy we have today, and her focus on customers and members will only strengthen our position in the future.”
Watkins most recently served as executive vice president for consumables at Walmart U.S. In that role she was responsible for the merchandising of the baby, beauty, household chemicals, household paper, over-the-counter medications, personal care and pet categories. Consumables is a huge and crucial business for Walmart. Together with food, it is a major traffic driver both in-store and online for the retailer.
Watkins joined Walmart about 24 years ago as a real estate intern after graduating with a JD degree from the University of Arkansas School of Law.
She rose through the ranks to the post of senior director of real estate before joining the merchandising team of Sam’s Club in 2008.
After two years at Sam’s Club Watkins moved over to Walmart U.S., initially serving as a senior category director for adult beverages. In 2012 she was promoted to vice president, and two years later she was elevated to senior vice president of snacks and beverages.
She was named senior VP of enterprise strategy in 2015, and a little more than a year later she joined the field operations organization as senior VP of U.S. store operations. She rejoined the merchant team as senior VP of merchandising consumables and O-T-C, and she was promoted to her most recent position of executive vice president of consumables in 2020.
