McMillon, McKenna and Murray headline CRE event

The Walmart shareholders meeting is next week and while the event is great for the retailer’s associates, suppliers looking for deeper insight into new priorities and key initiatives will be better served by attending a more content rich event the following week.

That’s when the Center for Retailing Excellence in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas plans to hold its annual Emerging Trends in Retail conference. The event, scheduled for Thursday, June 11, is especially noteworthy for several reasons this year.

For starters, it is the 15th time the annual event has been held since the Center For Retailing Excellence was created in 1998 with a portion of the $50 million endowment the University received from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation to establish the Walton College.

The event has grown and evolved since then, consistently featuring an unrivaled roster of speakers consistent with the Center’s mission to develop future leaders and serve as bridge between academics and the retail industry. That will be the case again this year with Doug McMillon, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., president and CEO, featured as the first speaker on the agenda.

“The focus will be on the foundations of retailing today,” said Center Director Claudia Mobley. “We are so excited to have Doug McMillon share his insights on the changing face of the retail industry. Doug began his career under the leadership of Sam Walton and holds the founding philosophy of Mr. Sam in high esteem.”

With McMillon headlining the event and other notable Walmart executives participating, the Center has shifted the venue from the space constrained Donald W. Reynolds Center on the University of Arkansas campus to the larger Northwest Arkansas Convention Center in Springdale. Although the venue is larger, Mobley encouraged prospective attendees to register as early as possible or risk being shut out.

While hearing from McMillon the week after Walmart’s shareholders’ meeting is clearly a major draw, there are plenty of other Walmart executives on the agenda to complement his views. For example, Walmart U.S. COO Judith McKenna can be expected to offer perspective on Walmart’s reorganized field operations structure and ongoing effort to integrate its physical and digital presence.

In addition, Walmart’s Senior Vice President of Creative Andy Murray makes a return appearance on the agenda. The former CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi X was instrumental in the creation of the Emerging Trends conference and while he regularly occupies a position on the program he never fails to provide the supplier dominated audience unique insights.

In addition Walmart’s top executives, attendees will hear a unique perspective from Don Harris, a retired Walmart operator and merchant who once held the position of chief merchandising officer and was McMillon’s former boss. Concluding the day will be Charles Redfield, executive vice president of merchandising for Sam’s Club.

Interspersed between all the Walmart executives will be other notable executives offering a diverse perspective. Marshal Cohen from The NPD Group and Leon Nicholas, senior vice president with Kantar Retail, will bring the current insights of shopper behaviors into play. Campbell Hyers, founding partner and CEO of the Control Group, will discuss the client experience in a technology driven environment. Conference attendees also will hear from Scot Wingo, executive chairman of ChannelAdvisor, a leading provider of leading provider of cloud-based e-commerce solutions that enable online retailers and manufacturers to integrate, manage and optimize their merchandise sales across hundreds of online channels including Amazon, Google, eBay and Facebook.

For more information visit: cre.uark.edu