Walmart has promoted Judith McKenna to President and CEO of Walmart International, the company’s second-largest operating segment. McKenna, currently serving as EVP and COO for Walmart U.S., will assume her new role on Feb. 1, 2018, and report to Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon.
McKenna will succeed David Cheesewright, who has been in the role since 2014. Cheesewright will remain with Walmart full time through March and then serve the company on a limited basis with specific projects for an unspecified period of time.
The role could be seen as a stepping stone to the company’s top position: both McMillon and his predecessor Mike Duke previously ran the international unit.
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McKenna has experience on the international side of the business. She started her career with Walmart in 1996 at Asda, the company’s UK operation. At Asda, she served as COO and CFO before being promoted to EVP of Strategy and International Development for Walmart International. In that position she led areas including international strategy, real estate, mergers and acquisitions, integration, global format development and purchase leverage.
Upon moving to the Walmart U.S. division in April 2014, McKenna served as the business unit’s Chief Development Officer, where she led the strategy, development and growth of Walmart’s small format business, and the partnership with Walmart.com to integrate digital commerce into the physical store presence.
Several months later, Walmart promoted McKenna to her expanded role as EVP and COO for Walmart U.S., with responsibilities for the company’s U.S. store operations, including more than 4,500 retail locations.
Walmart’s International division serves more than 100 million customers every week in more than 6,200 retail stores operating outside the U.S., with 55 banners in 27 countries.The division reported a net sales increase of 4.1% to $29.55 billion in Q3, accounting for nearly a quarter of Walmart’s total net sales.
