No one heading home, for now

Target has long dominated Walmart when it came to the home goods area, whether it was the quality of products or the manner in which they were displayed. Home truly was an area where Target fulfilled its creed of “expect more, pay less” and Walmart lived up to the worst of its reputation for clutter.

It’s fair to say that Walmart has narrowed the gap in recent years through remerchandising efforts to display products on lower-profile fixtures, the refinement of assortments to create clarity, the introduction of new brands and the relaunch of existing ones. Now, the executive credited with making it happen, EVP and general manager of home Linda Hefner, is moving on and leaving a large hole in Walmart’s home department.

She joined Walmart in 2007, but last week was named EVP merchandising and replenishment at Sam’s Club, enabling Wal-Mart’s warehouse club division to complete a leadership transition begun last fall that also involved a new CEO and head of operations. No replacement for Hefner was immediately named.