Wal-Mart Names New Webmaster

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (Bentonville, Ark.) named John Fleming, currently Walmart.com's coo, as president and ceo of the retail giant's Internet operation.

He will succeed Jeanne Jackson, who was hired away from The Gap Inc. (San Francisco) in a much-publicized move three years ago, when online retailing appeared headed for a booming future.

Fleming, who joined Walmart.com (Brisbane, Calif.) in 2000 as chief merchant overseeing procurement of merchandise and managing supplier relations, previously served as senior vp of merchandising for Marshall Fields, the department store division of Target Corp. (Minneapolis). During his years there, he held various retail and merchandising positions, including vp and gmm of apparel, dmm for sportswear and senior buyer.

As ceo of Wal-Mart's online unit, Fleming will continue to report to Tom Schoewe, executive vp and cfo of the parent company.

“The Walmart.com program has continued to improve under John's leadership,” said Wal-Mart president and ceo Lee Scott. “Walmart.com is more deeply integrated with the overall Wal-Mart operation than it has ever been. We also are pleased with the development of our online business.”

According to USA Today, Walmart.com was recently ranked as one of the top five Internet shopping web sites in terms of visitor traffic, after eBay, Amazon, Yahoo! Shopping and MSN Shopping (for the week ending Dec. 1, 2002). Walmart.com is reportedly experiencing a strong holiday season, particularly in toys, electronics and home, and is seeing significant growth in site traffic and sales over last year.