MMR/July 22, 2013 5

Walmart Is Alive and Well in NashvilleNASHVILLE — Nashville. One

of the distinctive cities that both define and expand the Ameri-can experience. It’s home to over 600,000 people, but that popula-tion base swells throughout the year as hundreds of thousands of tourists regularly descend on the area to sample, absorb and con-tribute to the area’s major indus-try: country music.

As both residents and visitors know, Nashville is the Country Music Capital of America. To that end, it emits a sound, a rhythm, a beat all its own. Walk down Broadway, the city’s major thor-oughfare. Stop in at one of the scores of eateries, saloons and cafés that crowd out all other at-tractions. Three inducements are immediately available: food, liq-uid refreshments and live coun-try music. No matter the time of day, Nashville pulsates with country music. Embrace it — or leave. No other options exist.

Well, that’s not entirely true. There is one other option: Walmart.

Walmart dominates Nashville’s retailing landscape as surely as country music dominates the city’s cultural scene. More to the point, it is the Walmart of another generation, the Walmart consum-ers flocked to throughout the South a generation ago simply because it promised more, of-fered more, delivered more than other retailers. The 25 Walmart discount stores and Supercent-ers that blanket the Nashville metropolitan area pulsate with activity, team with traffic, bustle with the buzz that surrounds un-beatable prices and follows the rhythm of promotional activity encouraged by entrepreneurial store managers and eagerly ex-ecuted by dynamic associates.

The Walmart Cheer, a sometime thing in most Walmart markets, is

alive and well in Nashville, kept that way because longtime as-sociates remain enthused by the Walmart spirit of another day and the memories of Sam Wal-ton leading that cheer at another time, another life, another era.

The question in all this is why Nashville has remained a vibrant Walmart community when so many others, once of equal stat-ure, have been allowed to lan-guish. There is not one answer, but many.

First, there is Nashville itself.

Unlike many other Southern communities, the Nashville of the early years of the 21st century remains much the same as it was a decade, or a generation, ago. Sustained by its allegiance to country music, it has continued to thrive amidst the recession. The restaurants, bars, tourist at-tractions, local amusements and area diversions bring in custom-ers year-round.

The tourist trade has empow-ered the locals to earn a living, in many cases a good living. In other words, Nashville is largely a mid-dle-class community, but not to such a degree that the community has found new ways to shop and new retailers to support. Nash-ville residents today are what they have long been: Walmart shoppers.

Indeed, Walmart long ago learned that Nashville could be a special market for the company. When the retailer initially rolled out its Supercenter concept, it determined that it would erect these food and general merchan-dise emporiums in those states

that offered the least resistance. Tennessee quickly emerged in the top tier of those states.

As a result, Walmart has been building, expanding, remodel-ing and altering its store base in Nashville for over 25 years. As the chain has aged, its Nashville stores have remained vibrant and new, its retailing concepts have stayed current and innova-tive, and its customer base has remained loyal and committed.

Consequently, a retail observ-er interested in learning what

Walmart was like when it domi-nated and eclipsed all others of the species need only go to Nash-ville to find out.

One other factor accounts for Walmart’s success in Nashville: the Walmart associate. No stud-ies have been undertaken to determine the longevity of the Walmart associate in Nashville, or how his or her tenure in the Country Music Capital compares to the tenure of Walmart associ-ates in other markets. But many, very many, Walmart associates in Nashville measure their careers at the company not in years, but in decades. Sometimes, in many decades.

Tenure aside, these associates are true believers. They faithful-ly recite the Walmart Cheer each morning because they believe in the ritual and what it stands for. They build creative displays be-cause they enjoy the experience — and because they constantly challenge themselves and their stores to improve, to do better.

Store managers encourage this performance and reward it — by

recognizing its value. In doing so, they recognize the value of the people who perform, the people who keep the customers coming, the people who keep the tradi-tion alive.

One more point: The associ-ates who staff Walmart’s Nash-ville stores are by no means ordinary. Indeed, it is as though Walmart attracts and embraces the unordi nary, or the super-or-dinary. There’s the associate who came to Nashville from Azerbai-jan more than a decade ago — an immigrant with no English and no apparent skills that Walmart could use — as a participant in a government-run program to bring to America people the government viewed as being “in jeopardy in their native land.” Asked to hire her, Walmart im-mediately agreed. Today, that associate is an integral part of a Walmart store team.

There’s the associate who, at age 5, contracted a rare form of meningitis that left him with no arms or legs. When, as a teenag-er, he applied for a job in retail, no company even responded. Except Walmart, where he was hired as a greeter. Today, he is a valuable associate, a jack-of-all trades at store level. He even works a cash register.

Other stories abound. There’s one about the associate who asked for a transfer from a store in a Texas community to Nash-ville so she could pursue a career as a country music singer. She can still be found at a Walmart store in Nashville — except on weekends, when she entertains regularly at Cowboy Kewl, a mu-sic venue in Printers Alley in downtown Nashville.

There’s the store manager who refused a promotion for 20 years because he didn’t want to relo-cate while his children were in

school. He finally agreed to be promoted earlier this year — because he was permitted to re-main in his district, while leading the neighboring market.

There’s the woman who wanted a career in law enforcement — until Walmart offered her a more-compelling option.

Then there’s the … It goes on and on. Suffice to say that in this day of impersonal management and in-different treatment — at Walmart and most other mass retailers — Walmart in Nashville has discov-ered, or rediscovered, a better way. The pages that follow will de-tail how and why that way contin-ues to produce dividends for both the retailer and its associates.

One major factor that accounts for its success here is the Walmart associate

2012 POPULATION (est.):*

624,496

MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME (2007-2011):*

$46,141

2007 RETAIL SALES:*

$10.27 billion

RETAIL EMPLOYMENT:*

40,920

NO. OF RETAIL OUTLETS:*

2,675

MARKET SHARE LEADERS:**

FOOD:**

Kroger

DRUG:**

Walgreens

DISCOUNT:**

Walmart

*Source: U.S. Census Bureau**Source: Racher Press research

NASHVILLE AT A GLANCE

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NEWS Walmart No. 1 in Nashville

6 MMR/July 22, 2013

Associate Finds ‘Walmart Store People Are Like Family’NASHVILLE — Yuki Ray Loo-

mis is a Texas girl. She grew up in Gatesville, near Waco, and, as so many Texans have done, gravi-tated to Walmart when looking for a job. She began her Walmart career in 1995, again, as so many before her have done, as a sales associate.

In 1999 her son was born — and Loomis took a two-year leave of absence. When she returned to Walmart she had moved to Green-ville, so she accepted a job at the retailer’s Terrell, Texas, store.

Her first priority was her son — so she worked nights, from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., stocking shelves and preparing the store for the next day’s business.

In September 2001 she trans-ferred to the McKinney store, where she continued to work the 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift.

By then Loomis had accumu-lated a variety of Walmart experi-ences, along with a reputation as a diligent, reliable and resource-ful associate. Over the next year she was given greater responsi-bility, ultimately managing the infants department at the McKin-ney store.

In 2002 Loomis divorced her husband, and she left Walmart for two years. During this pe-riod she worked for other retail-ers — Target, Pier 1 Imports, to name two. But those jobs paled before her Walmart experience.

“I couldn’t get Walmart out of my blood,” she says.

In 2004 she returned to Wal-mart, taking a position at another McKinney store as an associate in Ladies Wear, then accepting a promotion to department man-ager, finally becoming a coman-ager, one of four in the McKinney store.

By that time, Loomis’ life was

changing. For one thing, she had developed an interest in country music, not as an observer but as a performer. To pursue a country music career, she adopted a stage name: Rayla Ray. For another, in June of 2008 she remarried. As significant as her marriage was the fact that her new husband was also a musician — with a spe-cial interest in and affinity for country music.

“Looking back on those times, what I remember most is that they were difficult, especially as they related to my efforts to pur-sue a career in country music,” says Loomis. “We cut a record. We came to Nashville three different times. But we struggled because

we never had enough money to make a serious commitment to music. And we knew that, to make that commitment, we had to live in Nashville.”

Finally, Loomis and her hus-band decided that the only move that made sense was a move to Nashville permanently. “Nash-ville is, after all, the country music capital,” she says, “and we recognized that living in Nashville was our best chance of building a career in country music.”

Having made the decision, Loomis asked Walmart for a transfer to one of the retailer’s Nashville stores. “It was not an easy decision for me,” she remembers. “Walmart store people are like family. We work together and we also build per-sonal relationships that have nothing to do with Walmart. So leaving was, in a real sense, leaving my family.”

Recognizing her value, and reluctant to lose her, Walmart agreed to transfer Loomis to Nashville. So it was that she and her husband set out for the Coun-try Music Capital. Once settled in Nashville, Loomis reported to work as an apparel associate. To-day, she is still an apparel asso-ciate. But the rest of her life has changed — dramatically.

Now 37 years old, Loomis has gone a long way toward achieving

Loomis: “The company allowed me to move by guaranteeing me a job”

her dream as an entertainer. As Rayla Ray, she — and her band — entertain regularly along the fa-mous Printers Alley music strip and on Broadway in Nashville. But at Walmart she’s still Yuki Ray Loomis, a sales associate in Ladies Wear.

Not surprisingly, Loomis cred-its Walmart with giving her the opportunity to pursue her ca-reer — and her dream. “Walmart didn’t owe me a transfer. I would have been of more value to the company, at least initially, if I had

remained in Texas, where I knew the associates and the customers. In short, there was no advantage to Walmart in transferring me to Nashville. But the company knew it was important to me — and so they allowed me to move by guar-anteeing me a job which allowed me to keep my insurance.

“For this and a thousand other kindnesses, I’ll always be grate-ful to Walmart.”

And what about Nashville? “There’s no place like it. It’s my home. As is Walmart.”

‘I couldn’t get Walmart out of my blood’

Merchandising Supervisor Shows What She’s Capable OfNASHVILLE — All Tonya

Jones really wanted to be was a good mom. She went to college only because, being accepted, she felt an obligation to do so. And she took a job at Walmart, as a temporary cashier, because it was offered.

That was 11 years ago. To-day, Jones, at 40, is a big deal at Walmart Supercenter No. 1376 at 204 N. Anderson Lane in Henderson, Tenn. So, too, is her family.

More specifically, Jones is a zone merchandising supervisor at No. 1376. As well, her employ-er has encouraged her to get in-volved in the Henderson commu-nity, and she has responded, as have her two teenage children, who often accompany Jones to community events and planning sessions.

Her 18-year-old daughter re-cently received a Walmart schol-arship, after Jones, bringing the opportunity to her daughter’s at-tention, said, “You need to look into that.”

On her scholarship applica-tion, Jones’ daughter, address-ing the issue of what she liked most about Walmart, noted that the company allowed her mom to be a mom.

Speaking to Jones, it is difficult to determine what aspect of her life most pleases her. She speaks of her daughter, now a student

at Bethel University. She’s obvi-ously pleased that her children — her daughter and a 14-year-old son — help her with her work for charity. And she’s proud of the fact that her children have described her as the “perfect mom.”

In a way, all this success is sur-prising, coming as it has to an outwardly unassuming young lady.

In another way, it is not sur-prising at all that this ambitious overachiever has succeeded.

She describes herself as “very competitive.” As well, she gets involved easily and completely with projects that attract her. So it is that she has accumulated an extensive sports memorabilia collection, one that mirrors her interest in sports.

But back to Walmart, where she signed on, temporarily, as a cashier in 2002.

Almost immediately recog-nizing her potential, her man-ager moved her to the store’s accounting office. From there,

her ascent was steady and, in some ways, spectacular. She was promoted to front-end customer service manager, then to depart-ment manager for half of the grocery assortment, then all of grocery, and finally to zone mer-chandising manager, her current job.

“What’s special about Walmart is that the company doesn’t limit what an associate is capable of doing,” Jones says. “We are en-couraged to go as far as our abili-ties and our imagination take us.” In Jones’ case, that’s been very far indeed. In many ways, she is her own boss at Super-center No. 1376. When Walmart discontinued Action Alley some time ago, she resurrected it — and she wasn’t surprised when no one objected.

She routinely creates and builds innovative, eye-catching displays that call attention to specific categories — and to the merchandise Jones believes would be best featured in those categories. She’s not surprised that no one at Walmart raises an objection.

Jones’ community work dove-tails neatly with her Walmart ca-reer. Indeed, she has become a well-known and often-called-on focal point in her community, es-pousing and supporting causes and issues, raising money for community initiatives — and

involving her children, when their involvement benefits a cause.

Jones values the company for listening to associates. “An idea is always listened to, no matter where it comes from,” she says. “A new initiative is nev-er discouraged. I’ve never been told that I can’t try something new. If it doesn’t work, we just stop doing it.”

Jones has learned much about herself during her 11 years at Walmart. “First of all, and this has nothing to do with Walmart, you have to know who you are and what you’re capable of do-ing. Once you know that, you need to know how to get things done. At Walmart there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about things.

“What I’ve learned is how to go about introducing and develop-ing programs — when to expand a new program and when to de-cide it’s not working. There’s tre-mendous freedom at Walmart — provided you know how to use it, and provided you don’t abuse it.”

What’s next for Tonya Jones? Clearly, Walmart has big plans for this merchandising talent. As for Jones, she’s not so sure what her next step will be. As she in-sists on putting it, “I just want to be a good mom.”

Her children will tell you that she’s already there.

Jones: “The associate remains an important source of new ideas”

NEWS Walmart No. 1 in Nashville

MMR/July 22, 2013 9

Pullen: “I liked that feeling, the idea that I was making a difference”

‘Walmart Is the Perfect Match’ for One Store ManagerNASHVILLE — Tonya Pullen

is a Virginia girl, though she at-tended college at East Tennes-see State University.

She was always an overachiev-er. Early on, she was a member the National Young Leadership Conference. Even as a teenager she was possessed of a high degree of self-confidence — “even though I knew that self-confidence sometimes scares people.”

Pullen’s father was in construc-tion, and her mom pretty much let her do as she wanted — as long as it was productive. She liked sports — but what she re-ally wanted to do was pursue a career in law enforcement. “Ac-tually, my initial interest was psychology,” she remembers. “But then I became enthused about criminal justice and sociology.”

Throughout her school years she routinely took jobs at retail — working for the Ingles grocery retailer, then at Food Lion. “One time I wanted a car,” she says, “and I knew the only way to get one was to earn the money — by working.”

In 1998 she applied for a job at both Walmart and Kmart.

“I was 20 years old and, be-cause I was in school, interested only in part-time work. Kmart asked me to fill out an extensive questionnaire. Walmart offered

me a job,” she saysSo Pullen signed on with Wal-

mart. While in college, she worked weekends — every week-end — putting in 40 hours. She worked diligently — though she knew she wouldn’t be there lon-ger than a year.

Today, 15 years later, at age 35, Pullen is a Walmart store manager.

Her dream of a career in crimi-nal justice has vanished — be-cause something better came along. By the time she gradu-ated college she was an assistant

manager earning far more mon-ey than the entry-level salary of-fered in criminal justice.

But she hasn’t lost all connec-

tions to criminal justice. Her husband is a Transportation Security Administration agent at Nashville airport, and Pullen credits him with teaching her to

balance her career and her du-ties as a mom with a two-year-old daughter. Well, balance is not ex-actly the right word: Asked about her future, Pullen confides that she intends to be Walmart’s chief executive officer someday — soon.

As a Walmart manager, she’s recognized for her special talents.

“Walmart is the perfect match for me,” she says. “I’ve always liked people, and I’ve always had goals. And Walmart has en-couraged me to pursue these traits. As well, I believe the com-pany always appreciated my flexibility. For example, when I told them I was available to work weekends, the company asked me to work on weekends.”

Pullen’s rise to the top has been inevitable.

She was identified early on as a potential manager. She was liv-ing and working in Johnson City, Tenn., when she was offered a

promotion — provided she was willing to relocate to Nashville. She told the company that she couldn’t accept the job before checking with her husband. She

remembers phoning him. “All he said was, ‘Do you want to do this?’ When I told him I did, he said, ‘Take the job.’ ”

As a Walmart store manager Pullen supervises nine direct reports along with a manage-ment staff of 36 shift managers. The reality, however, is that she takes responsibility for the en-tire store.

“I take the time to work with people throughout the store,” she says. “I teach and train. I talk to the associates. Sometimes I come to the store on Saturday, though I’m off. I’m known as a hard worker.”

Pullen remembers the time when she was a market manager and suddenly Walmart people in Nashville knew who she was. “My name was suddenly being noised around,” she recalls. “I liked that feeling, the idea that I was making a difference and that people in the company re-spected me for that.”

Today, at 35, she’s still making a difference — and her name is still being noised around. She’s been to Walmart’s Leadership Academy, a group that devel-ops individuals the retailer has identified as possessing those qualities necessary for advancement.

So, stayed tuned. Clearly, this is only the beginning for Tonya Pullen.

After Struggles in Early Life, Path for Associate Runs UpwardNASHVILLE — When Charlie

Rogers was five, and living in Charleston, S.C., his life changed forever. That’s when he contract-ed bacterial meningitis, a rare and disabling disease that, fol-lowing surgery, left him a qua-druple amputee.

By 2008, at age 19, he had moved to Nashville. There, he applied for a job at Walmart. He filled out applications for other retail-ers as well, but possibly discour-aged by his physical limitations — both his hands and feet had been amputated — most never bothered to respond. Walmart did, however, and hired him as a greeter.

Not very long afterward, Rog-ers decided he wanted to be more than someone who greet-ed customers as they entered Walmart. He wanted to learn to work a cash register. The store manager had some reservations, given Rogers’ obvious limita-tions in dexterity. But he decid-ed that the youngster had earned a chance. In three months Rog-ers mastered the cash register. Describing the degree of diffi-culty he experienced in learn-ing the cash register, he uses the word “ easily.”

From there Rogers’ path at Walmart ran in one direction: upward. He’s officially identi-fied as a customer service man-ager, though in fact he’s much

more. He’s a front-end supervi-sor, a cashier (when needed), a jack of all trades at the store, the associate who’s asked to fill in anywhere help is needed. Using an electric cart, he navigates the store swiftly and easily. Clearly, he loves what he does. Even more clearly, he’s good at it. Still, he’s impatient. Asked what’s

next, he says simply: “Manage-ment is next.”

When he says it, he speaks with the quiet confidence born of the struggles he has had to overcome — in life and in business. He’s currently an economics major at Middle Tennessee State Univer-sity, and says he would happily spend the rest of his working life at Walmart — provided the com-pany finds an appropriate place for him. For now, he’s happy do-ing what he does — which, in the main, is helping customers.

“The customers are mostly appreciative,” he says, though he admits that occasionally a customer grows impatient with him — for no reason that he can identify.

As for his fellow associates, they have embraced him without

qualifications. Indeed, he has become one of the most valued — and indispensable — associates in the store.

During an hour spent in the store on 2000 Old Fort Park-way in Murfreesboro, Tenn., a visitor hears the name “Charlie Rogers” called repeatedly on the store’s loudspeaker system,

along with a request that he come, often quickly, to a particu-lar location.

As for Rogers, he’s very com-fortable with who he is and what he’s accomplished thus far in his young life.

“I grew up faster than other kids. As a result, I’ve been learn-ing differently since I was five,” he says. “So the skills I’ve been asked to learn at Walmart have come easily to me.”

He’s pleased, but not sur-prised, at the ease with which other Walmart associates inter-act with him. “I believe you’re treated the way you’ve asked to be treated,” he says. “I’ve asked to be accepted for who I am and what I can do. And that’s what’s happened.”

Rogers admits to being

somewhat surprised at the lack of response his initial job ap-plications elicited from other retailers. “I expected some re-jections,” he says. “But I was surprised that some companies never even responded.”

Walmart did, however. And Charlie Rogers has found a home that some who know him doubted he’d ever find.

If it indeed becomes a perma-nent home, Walmart will emerge from the experience as the pri-mary beneficiary — though

Rogers won’t have done too bad-ly either.

As Rogers himself puts it, “I’ve always asked to be accepted for who I am and what I’m capable of producing. What applies to me should have application for anyone looking to get ahead in the world, to exert an impact, to create a life. I had a bad break early in life. But I never believed that my misfortune would defeat me. And, thanks to the faith some Walmart people showed in me, it hasn’t.”

Rogers: “I’ve asked to be accepted for what I’m capable of producing”

‘The skills I’ve been asked to learn at Walmart have come easily to me’

‘I take the time to work with people throughout the store; I teach and train’

10 MMR/July 22, 2013

NEWS Walmart No. 1 in Nashville

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Good Workers Are RespectedNASHVILLE — Natasha Ter-

Markarova, Armenian born, was raised in the former Soviet out-post of Baku, Azerbaijan. Her life growing up was a tension-filled existence. Because she was Ar-menian, her life was constantly in jeopardy — indeed, Armenians were a persecuted people in the former Soviet Union simply be-cause they were Armenians.

In 1989 Ter-Markarova “es-caped” (her word), leaving Baku and finally settling in Russia three years later. But her life was no easier in that country.

But in 1992 Natasha Ter-Mar-karova’s life changed — forever. She had previously written to President George H.W. Bush, re-questing that he grant her asylum and be allowed to emigrate to the United States under refugee sta-tus. In 1992 her wish was granted under a U.S. program to offer asy-lum to endangered Armenians. So it was that she and her hus-band were brought to America — and to Nashville.

The woman who landed in the Country Music Capital of Ameri-ca spoke no English and, though she had completed five years of college, had been trained only as a piano teacher. Her husband, another Armenian, was a dentist. They arrived with four suitcases and the clothes on their backs. Neither had a job, though the U.S. government refugee program

was backed by a “guarantee” that the government would help Ter-Markarova find work.

To fulfill this guarantee, the gov-ernment reached out to Walmart — and Walmart responded, by of-fering Ter-Markarova a job as an associate in the stockroom.

Today, 20 years later, Ter-Markarova is an integral part of the Walmart community in Nash-ville. Her English has progressed remarkably, to the point where it has become the language she uses to communicate. She an-chors the ladies’ apparel assort-ment at the Walmart on Lebanon Pike in the Nashville suburb of Hermitage. And she freely cred-its her customers and fellow as-sociates for the unimaginable success of her American journey.

“America is my home,” she says, as only an immigrant can speak those words. “This country has given me everything good I’ve ever had in this world.”

She’s similarly enthusiastic about Walmart: “Walmart treats people as they ask to be treated. If you’re a good worker you’re treated and respected as a good worker.”

Ter-Markarova has grown up with the Walmart experience, from the day she was initially wel-comed to Walmart with a balloon assortment. She attended the 2003 Shareholders Meeting in Fay-etteville, Ark. She has managed

several departments, books and ladies’ apparel prominent among them. And she’s been embraced by her fellow associates, a group that has learned to lean on her, especially when hard work and commitment are required.

Her husband passed away five years ago, but Ter-Markarova has built a life without him. She cooks dinner for friends and does volun-teer work in the community. But life, for her, revolves around the Walmart store at 4424 Lebanon Pike. “America brought me here,” she says, “but Walmart gave me the opportunity to live here.” Natasha Ter-Markarova, Yuki Ray Loomis at a Walmart in Nashville

Walmart Provides a New ChallengeNASHVILLE — For the past

21 years Doug Shepherd was the store manager at Walmart No. 671, located at 615 S. Cum-berland St. in Lebanon, Tenn. It’s not that he wasn’t offered other, more expanded opportunities at Walmart. Rather, those oppor-tunities invariably included a transfer to another area — and Shepherd had no interest in re-locating while his children were still in school.

Last fall his youngest son gradu-ated high school, and that last bar-rier to transfer disappeared. And so Shepherd was finally promoted — to market manager. Ironically,

in the end the promotion involved no change of address at all. His new assignment gave him respon-sibility for seven Walmarts in mid-dle Tennesee.

It says lots for Shepherd that his family came first. But his allegiance to Walmart has al-ways come in a close second. So it was that, as his tenure at the Walmart on South Cumberland Street came to a close, the town of Lebanon turned out to show its appreciation for his 21 years of service. The mayor declared the day “Doug Shepherd Apprecia-tion Day,” and friends and fans, among them local police officers, firemen, civic leaders, customers and Chamber of Commerce offi-cials, turned out to honor him.

To those who know Shepherd, none of this should have come as a surprise. He began his Walmart career 26 years ago, as a cart pusher and stocker in Bowling Green, Ky., his hometown. A year later he had been promoted to as-sistant manager and was enrolled in the Walmart Training Program. By 1992 he had been named store manager at No. 671, despite the fact that his Walmart career had been interrupted by both college and stints at other retailers.

Now he embarks on a new as-signment — market manager for seven Nashville-area stores. His new job has him reporting to Shana Desmit, the regional man-ager responsible for 74 stores in Tennessee and Kentucky. He’s approaching this new challenge

much the way he’s approached every opportunity Walmart has offered: with quiet self-assur-ance that the task is not beyond him. “Walmart has changed since I became a store manager,” he says. “Sustainability has become a key issue for Walmart — and one of my priorities. As well, ‘noise’ has become a concern of mine — or rather, finding ways to reduce the noise at Walmart. The stores have become noisier. As a result, they have become less fun for the customer. I’d like to work with the stores in my market to reduce the noise level.”

Shepherd has other priorities as well, foremost among them the age-old challenges of improving business, increasing efficiency and building and maintaining a spirit of partnership and profes-sionalism among associates and between associates and store management. These are chal-lenges Shepherd has mastered before — specifically, in 21 years as store manager in Lebanon, a challenge he so far mastered that one day last spring, the town of Lebanon was renamed for 46-year-old Doug Shepherd.

With so many achievements be-hind him, Shepherd’s Walmart future looks especially promis-ing — unless, of course, family obligations interfere. It wouldn’t be the first time — and, in the end, those obligations, should they materialize, likely would not unduly hinder Doug Shepherd’s Walmart career.

Shepherd: “Sustainability has become a key issue for Walmart”