Dive Brief:
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Wal-Mart Canada said Monday that it has promoted Chief Operating Officer Lee Tappenden to the position of president and CEO, effective Aug. 15.
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Tappenden replaces Dirk Van den Berghe, who was appointed to the position in 2014 and was recently tapped to lead Wal-Mart's China unit.
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Tappenden has been at the company in a variety of roles since 1996, including Chief Merchandising Officer with Wal-Mart Japan and Vice President of Merchandising for the International Division. Wal-Mart Canada Chief Administrative Officer Bob Hakeem will take over Tappenden’s role as COO.
Dive Insight:
The ongoing shakeup in Wal-Mart’s international operations continues. Earlier this month Wal-Mart Stores announced that it will replace outgoing Asda CEO Andy Clarke with Sean Clarke, most recently president and CEO of Wal-Mart China. That created an opening to be filled by Van den Berghe, the Belgian grocery executive widely credited with improving Wal-Mart Canada’s grocery operations.
Wal-Mart Canada operates a growing chain of more than 400 stores nationwide serving more than 1.2 million customers each day, according to a press release. Tappenden, a 20-year Wal-Mart Canada veteran, is well versed in in the company's operations.
The Tappenden promotion comes two weeks after Wal-Mart Canada said it will no longer accept Visa card payments, a change instituted after the retailer failed to reach an agreement on an “acceptable fee for Visa transactions,” according to a blog post. The new policy will go into effect on July 18 in Wal-Mart's Thunder Bay, Ontario locations before rolling out in phases nationwide across more than 370 stores.
Visa said Wal-Mart Canada is "unfairly dragging" customers into their ongoing transaction fee battle. “Wal-Mart has initiated a public flight—something we never wanted—as they are using their own customers as negotiating leverage,” Visa said in an open letter published in Canadian newspapers.