NEW YORK (AP) — The executive who spearheaded Walmart's U.S. division's revival is leaving the company to take the top job at Air New Zealand.
Greg Foran, a native of New Zealand, is leaving the retail giant where he has worked since 2011. He has been CEO of Walmart's U.S. division for the past five years, a period noted for several years of consecutive quarterly sales gains.
He's being replaced by John Furner, 45, the president and CEO of Walmart's Sam's Club division since 2017. The move is effective Nov. 1.
Under Foran, Walmart cleaned up its 4,700-plus U.S. stores, improved customer service and added employee training as the nation's largest retailer adapted to competition from online leader Amazon.com. Foran also was responsible for transforming Walmart's U.S. stores into distribution hubs that can fill online orders to reduce costs and speed up deliveries.
Furner started as an hourly worker at Walmart in 1993. He has held leadership roles in operations, merchandising and sourcing in Walmart U.S., Sam's Club and Walmart International, where he served at Walmart China as chief merchandising and marketing officer.
