Walmart Canada promotes COO to top spot

Walmart Canada has appointed Lee Tappenden, COO, Walmart Canada to the position of president and CEO, Walmart Canada, effective Aug. 15.



Tappenden joined Walmart in 1996 and has held a number of global leadership roles with the company, including chief merchandising officer with Walmart Japan and VP of merchandising for the international division.



After joining the Walmart Canada leadership team in 2010 as senior VP, merchandise operations, Tappenden also served as chief merchandising officer. He will report to David Cheesewright, president and CEO, Walmart International.



"Lee is extremely well poised to lead Walmart Canada and continue the momentum of growth we are seeing in this market," said Cheesewright. "He has demonstrated outstanding leadership throughout his career with Walmart internationally in both merchandising and operations, but he also brings to the role a real passion and heart for our associates and customers. Lee is the kind of person who genuinely cares about the well-being of the people who work in and shop at our stores every day – and that's one of the things that make him an incredibly special leader."



Tappenden replaces Dirk Van den Berghe, who was reassigned to Walmart’s Asia region as part of a global executive shuffle earlier in June. With today's announcement, Bob Hakeem, chief administrative officer, Walmart Canada will assume the role of COO. After joining Walmart Canada in 2008 as senior VP for the Walmart Canada people division, Hakeem was named executive VP, HR in 2012.