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NASHVILLE Walmart Is Alive and Well in Nashville AT A GLANCE NASHVILLE — Nashville. One alive and well in Nashville, kept that offered the least resistance. recognizing its value. In doing so, of the distinctive cities that both that way because longtime as- Tennessee quickly emerged in they recognize the value of the 2012 POPULATION (est.):* define and expand the Ameri- sociates remain enthused by the the top tier of those states. people who perform, the people 624,496 can experience. It’s home to over Walmart spirit of another day As a result, Walmart has been who keep the customers coming, 600,000 people, but that popula- and the memories of Sam Wal- building, expanding, remodel- the people who keep the tradi- MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD tion base swells throughout the ton leading that cheer at another ing and altering its store base in tion alive. INCOME (2007-2011):* year as hundreds of thousands of time, another life, another era. Nashville for over 25 years. As One more point: The associ- $46,141 tourists regularly descend on the The question in all this is why the chain has aged, its Nashville ates who staff Walmart’s Nash- area to sample, absorb and con- Nashville has remained a vibrant stores have remained vibrant ville stores are by no means 2007 RETAIL SALES:* tribute to the area’s major indus- Walmart community when so and new, its retailing concepts ordinary. Indeed, it is as though $10.27 billion try: country music. many others, once of equal stat- have stayed current and innova- Walmart attracts and embraces As both residents and visitors ure, have been allowed to lan- tive, and its customer base has the unordi­nary, or the super-or- RETAIL EMPLOYMENT:* know, Nashville is the Country guish. There is not one answer, remained loyal and committed. dinary. There’s the associate who 40,920 Music Capital of America. To that but many. Consequently, a retail observ- came to Nashville from Azerbai- end, it emits a sound, a rhythm, First, there is Nashville itself. er interested in learning what jan more than a decade ago — an NO. OF RETAIL OUTLETS:* a beat all its own. Walk down immigrant with no English and 2,675 Broadway, the city’s major thor- no apparent skills that Walmart oughfare. Stop in at one of the could use — as a participant MARKET SHARE LEADERS:** scores of eateries, saloons and One major factor that accounts for its in a government-run program cafés that crowd out all other at- success here is the Walmart associate to bring to America people the FOOD:** tractions. Three inducements are government viewed as being “in Kroger immediately available: food, liq- jeopardy in their native land.” uid refreshments and live coun- Unlike many other Southern Walmart was like when it domi- Asked to hire her, Walmart im- DRUG:** try music. No matter the time communities, the Nashville of nated and eclipsed all others of mediately agreed. Today, that Walgreens of day, Nashville pulsates with the early years of the 21st century the species need only go to Nash- associate is an integral part of a country music. Embrace it — or remains much the same as it was ville to find out. Walmart store team. DISCOUNT:** leave. No other options exist. a decade, or a generation, ago. One other factor accounts for There’s the associate who, at Walmart Well, that’s not entirely true. Sustained by its allegiance to Walmart’s success in Nashville: age 5, contracted a rare form of *Source: U.S. Census Bureau There is one other option: country music, it has continued the Walmart associate. No stud- meningitis that left him with no **Source: Racher Press research Walmart. to thrive amidst the recession. ies have been undertaken to arms or legs. When, as a teenag- Walmart dominates Nashville’s The restaurants, bars, tourist at- determine the longevity of the er, he applied for a job in retail, retailing landscape as surely tractions, local amusements and Walmart associate in Nashville, no company even responded. as country music dominates the area diversions bring in custom- or how his or her tenure in the Except Walmart, where he was city’s cultural scene. More to the ers year-round. Country Music Capital compares hired as a greeter. Today, he is a school. He finally agreed to be point, it is the Walmart of another The tourist trade has empow- to the tenure of Walmart associ- valuable associate, a jack-of-all promoted earlier this year — generation, the Walmart consum- ered the locals to earn a living, in ates in other markets. But many, trades at store level. He even because he was permitted to re- ers flocked to throughout the many cases a good living. In other very many, Walmart associates in works a cash register. main in his district, while leading South a generation ago simply words, Nashville is largely a mid- Nashville measure their careers Other stories abound. There’s the neighboring market. because it promised more, of- dle-class community, but not to at the company not in years, but one about the associate who There’s the woman who wanted fered more, delivered more than such a degree that the community in decades. Sometimes, in many asked for a transfer from a store a career in law enforcement — other retailers. The 25 Walmart has found new ways to shop and decades. in a Texas community to Nash- until Walmart offered her a more- discount stores and Supercent- new retailers to support. Nash- Tenure aside, these associates ville so she could pursue a career compelling option. ers that blanket the Nashville ville residents today are what are true believers. They faithful- as a country music singer. She Then there’s the … It goes on and metropolitan area pulsate with they have long been: Walmart ly recite the Walmart Cheer each can still be found at a Walmart on. Suffice to say that in this day of activity, team with traffic, bustle shoppers. morning because they believe in store in Nashville — except on impersonal management and in- with the buzz that surrounds un- Indeed, Walmart long ago the ritual and what it stands for. weekends, when she entertains different treatment — at Walmart beatable prices and follows the learned that Nashville could be a They build creative displays be- regularly at Cowboy Kewl, a mu- and most other mass retailers — rhythm of promotional activity special market for the company. cause they enjoy the experience sic venue in Printers Alley in Walmart in Nashville has discov- encouraged by entrepreneurial When the retailer initially rolled — and because they constantly downtown Nashville. ered, or rediscovered, a better store managers and eagerly ex- out its Supercenter concept, it challenge themselves and their There’s the store manager who way. The pages that follow will de- ecuted by dynamic associates. determined that it would erect stores to improve, to do better. refused a promotion for 20 years tail how and why that way contin- The Walmart Cheer, a sometime these food and general merchan- Store managers encourage this because he didn’t want to relo- ues to produce dividends for both thing in most Walmart markets, is dise emporiums in those states performance and reward it — by cate while his children were in the retailer and its associates.

MMR/July 22, 2013 5 NEWS Walmart No. 1 in Nashville Associate Finds ‘Walmart Store People Are Like Family’ NASHVILLE — Yuki Ray Loo- “I couldn’t get Walmart out of my we never had enough money to mis is a Texas girl. She grew up blood,” she says. make a serious commitment to in Gatesville, near Waco, and, as In 2004 she returned to Wal­ music. And we knew that, to make so many Texans have done, gravi- mart, taking a position at another that commitment, we had to live tated to Walmart when looking McKinney store as an associate in Nashville.” for a job. She began her Walmart in Ladies Wear, then accepting Finally, Loomis and her hus- career in 1995, again, as so many a promotion to department man- band decided that the only move before her have done, as a sales ager, finally becoming a coman- that made sense was a move to associate. ager, one of four in the McKinney Nashville permanently. “Nash- In 1999 her son was born — and store. ville is, after all, the country Loomis took a two-year leave of By that time, Loomis’ life was music capital,” she says, “and absence. When she returned to we recognized that living in Walmart she had moved to Green- Nashville was our best chance ville, so she accepted a job at the of building a career in country retailer’s Terrell, Texas, store. ‘I couldn’t get music.” Her first priority was her son Having made the decision, — so she worked nights, from 10 Walmart out Loomis asked Walmart for a p.m. to 7 a.m., stocking shelves of my blood’ transfer to one of the retailer’s and preparing the store for the Nashville stores. “It was not next day’s business. an easy decision for me,” she In September 2001 she trans- changing. For one thing, she had remembers. “Walmart store ferred to the McKinney store, developed an interest in country people are like family. We work where she continued to work the music, not as an observer but as together and we also build per- 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift. a performer. To pursue a country sonal relationships that have Loomis: “The company allowed me to move by guaranteeing me a job” By then Loomis had accumu- music career, she adopted a stage nothing to do with Walmart. lated a variety of Walmart experi- name: Rayla Ray. For another, in So leaving was, in a real sense, her dream as an entertainer. As remained in Texas, where I knew ences, along with a reputation as June of 2008 she remarried. As leaving my family.” Rayla Ray, she — and her band — the associates and the customers. a diligent, reliable and resource- significant as her marriage was Recognizing her value, and entertain regularly along the fa- In short, there was no advantage ful associate. Over the next year the fact that her new husband reluctant to lose her, Walmart mous Printers Alley music strip to Walmart in transferring me to she was given greater responsi- was also a musician — with a spe- agreed to transfer Loomis to and on Broadway in Nashville. Nashville. But the company knew bility, ultimately managing the cial interest in and affinity for Nashville. So it was that she and But at Walmart she’s still Yuki it was important to me — and so infants department at the McKin- country music. her husband set out for the Coun- Ray Loomis, a sales associate in they allowed me to move by guar- ney store. “Looking back on those times, try Music Capital. Once settled Ladies Wear. anteeing me a job which allowed In 2002 Loomis divorced her what I remember most is that in Nashville, Loomis reported to Not surprisingly, Loomis cred- me to keep my insurance. husband, and she left Walmart they were difficult, especially as work as an apparel associate. To- its Walmart with giving her the “For this and a thousand other for two years. During this pe- they related to my efforts to pur- day, she is still an apparel asso- opportunity to pursue her ca- kindnesses, I’ll always be grate- riod she worked for other retail- sue a career in country music,” ciate. But the rest of her life has reer — and her dream. “Walmart ful to Walmart.” ers — Target, Pier 1 Imports, to says Loomis. “We cut a record. We changed — dramatically. didn’t owe me a transfer. I would And what about Nashville? name two. But those jobs paled came to Nashville three different Now 37 years old, Loomis has have been of more value to the “There’s no place like it. It’s my before her Walmart experience. times. But we struggled because gone a long way toward achieving company, at least initially, if I had home. As is Walmart.” Merchandising Supervisor Shows What She’s Capable Of NASHVILLE — All Tonya her ascent was steady and, in involving her children, when Jones really wanted to be was a some ways, spectacular. She was their involvement benefits a good mom. She went to college promoted to front-end customer cause. only because, being accepted, service manager, then to depart- Jones values the company she felt an obligation to do so. ment manager for half of the for listening to associates. And she took a job at Walmart, as grocery assortment, then all of “An idea is always listened to, a temporary cashier, because it grocery, and finally to zone mer- no matter where it comes from,” was offered. chandising manager, her current she says. “A new initiative is nev- That was 11 years ago. To- job. er discouraged. I’ve never been day, Jones, at 40, is a big deal at “What’s special about Walmart told that I can’t try something Walmart Supercenter No. 1376 is that the company doesn’t limit new. If it doesn’t work, we just at 204 N. Anderson Lane in what an associate is capable of stop doing it.” Henderson, Tenn. So, too, is her doing,” Jones says. “We are en- Jones has learned much about ­family. couraged to go as far as our abili- herself during her 11 years at More specifically, Jones is a ties and our imagination take Walmart. “First of all, and this zone merchandising supervisor us.” In Jones’ case, that’s been has nothing to do with Walmart, at No. 1376. As well, her employ- very far indeed. In many ways, you have to know who you are er has encouraged her to get in- she is her own boss at Super- and what you’re capable of do- volved in the Henderson commu- center No. 1376. When Walmart ing. Once you know that, you nity, and she has responded, as discontinued Action Alley some need to know how to get things have her two teenage children, time ago, she resurrected it — done. At Walmart there’s a right who often accompany Jones to and she wasn’t surprised when way and a wrong way to go about community events and planning no one objected. things. sessions. Jones: “The associate remains an important source of new ideas” She routinely creates and “What I’ve learned is how to go Her 18-year-old daughter re- builds innovative, eye-catching about introducing and develop- cently received a Walmart schol- at Bethel University. She’s obvi- She describes herself as “very displays that call attention to ing programs — when to expand arship, after Jones, bringing the ously pleased that her children competitive.” As well, she gets specific categories — and to the a new program and when to de- opportunity to her daughter’s at- — her daughter and a 14-year- involved easily and completely merchandise Jones believes cide it’s not working. There’s tre- tention, said, “You need to look old son — help her with her work with projects that attract her. So would be best featured in those mendous freedom at Walmart — into that.” for charity. And she’s proud of it is that she has accumulated an categories. She’s not surprised provided you know how to use it, On her scholarship applica- the fact that her children have extensive sports memorabilia that no one at Walmart raises an and provided you don’t abuse it.” tion, Jones’ daughter, address- described her as the “perfect collection, one that mirrors her objection. What’s next for Tonya Jones? ing the issue of what she liked mom.” interest in sports. Jones’ community work dove- Clearly, Walmart has big plans most about Walmart, noted that In a way, all this success is sur- But back to Walmart, where tails neatly with her Walmart ca- for this merchandising talent. As the company allowed her mom to prising, coming as it has to an she signed on, temporarily, as a reer. Indeed, she has become a for Jones, she’s not so sure what be a mom. outwardly unassuming young cashier in 2002. well-known and often-called-on her next step will be. As she in- Speaking to Jones, it is difficult lady. Almost immediately recog- focal point in her community, es- sists on putting it, “I just want to to determine what aspect of her In another way, it is not sur- nizing her potential, her man- pousing and supporting causes be a good mom.” life most pleases her. She speaks prising at all that this ambitious ager moved her to the store’s and issues, raising money for Her children will tell you that of her daughter, now a student overachiever has succeeded. accounting office. From there, community initiatives — and she’s already there.

6 MMR/July 22, 2013 NEWS Walmart No. 1 in Nashville ‘Walmart Is the Perfect Match’ for One Store Manager NASHVILLE — Tonya Pullen balance her career and her du- remembers phoning him. “All is a Virginia girl, though she at- ties as a mom with a two-year-old he said was, ‘Do you want to do tended college at East Tennes- daughter. Well, balance is not ex- this?’ When I told him I did, he see State University. actly the right word: Asked about said, ‘Take the job.’ ” She was always an overachiev- her future, Pullen confides that As a Walmart store manager er. Early on, she was a member she intends to be Walmart’s Pullen supervises nine direct the National Young Leadership chief executive officer someday reports along with a manage- Conference. Even as a teenager — soon. ment staff of 36 shift managers. she was possessed of a high As a Walmart manager, she’s The reality, however, is that she degree of self-confidence — recognized for her special takes responsibility for the en- “even though I knew that self- ­talents. tire store. confidence sometimes scares “Walmart is the perfect match “I take the time to work with ­people.” for me,” she says. “I’ve always people throughout the store,” Pullen’s father was in construc- liked people, and I’ve always she says. “I teach and train. I tion, and her mom pretty much had goals. And Walmart has en- talk to the associates. Sometimes let her do as she wanted — as couraged me to pursue these I come to the store on Saturday, long as it was productive. She traits. As well, I believe the com- though I’m off. I’m known as a liked sports — but what she re- pany always appreciated my hard worker.” ally wanted to do was pursue a flexibility. For example, when I Pullen remembers the time career in law enforcement. “Ac- told them I was available to work when she was a market manager tually, my initial interest was weekends, the company asked and suddenly Walmart people psychology,” she remembers. me to work on weekends.” in Nashville knew who she was. “But then I became enthused Pullen: “I liked that feeling, the idea that I was making a difference” Pullen’s rise to the top has “My name was suddenly being about criminal justice and been inevitable. noised around,” she recalls. “I ­sociology.” me a job,” she says manager earning far more mon- She was identified early on as liked that feeling, the idea that Throughout her school years So Pullen signed on with Wal­ ey than the entry-level salary of- a potential manager. She was liv- I was making a difference and she routinely took jobs at retail mart. While in college, she fered in criminal justice. ing and working in Johnson City, that people in the company re- — working for the Ingles grocery worked weekends — every week- But she hasn’t lost all connec- Tenn., when she was offered a spected me for that.” retailer, then at Food Lion. “One end — putting in 40 hours. She Today, at 35, she’s still making time I wanted a car,” she says, worked diligently — though she a difference — and her name is “and I knew the only way to get knew she wouldn’t be there lon- still being noised around. She’s one was to earn the money — by ger than a year. ‘I take the time to work with people been to Walmart’s Leadership working.” Today, 15 years later, at age throughout the store; I teach and train’ Academy, a group that devel- In 1998 she applied for a job at 35, Pullen is a Walmart store ops individuals the retailer both Walmart and Kmart. ­manager. has identified as possessing “I was 20 years old and, be- Her dream of a career in crimi- tions to criminal justice. Her promotion — provided she was those qualities necessary for cause I was in school, interested nal justice has vanished — be- husband is a Transportation willing to relocate to Nashville. ­advancement. only in part-time work. Kmart cause something better came Security Administration agent She told the company that she So, stayed tuned. Clearly, this asked me to fill out an extensive along. By the time she gradu- at Nashville airport, and Pullen couldn’t accept the job before is only the beginning for Tonya questionnaire. Walmart offered ated college she was an assistant credits him with teaching her to checking with her husband. She Pullen. After Struggles in Early Life, Path for Associate Runs Upward NASHVILLE — When Charlie more. He’s a front-end supervi- qualifications. Indeed, he has Rogers was five, and living in sor, a cashier (when needed), a become one of the most valued — Charleston, S.C., his life changed jack of all trades at the store, the and indispensable — associates forever. That’s when he contract- associate who’s asked to fill in in the store. ed bacterial meningitis, a rare anywhere help is needed. Using During an hour spent in the and disabling disease that, fol- an electric cart, he navigates the store on 2000 Old Fort Park- lowing surgery, left him a qua- store swiftly and easily. Clearly, way in Murfreesboro, Tenn., a druple ­amputee. he loves what he does. Even visitor hears the name “Charlie By 2008, at age 19, he had moved more clearly, he’s good at it. Still, Rogers” called repeatedly on to Nashville. There, he applied he’s impatient. Asked what’s the store’s loudspeaker system, for a job at Walmart. He filled out applications for other retail- ers as well, but possibly discour- aged by his physical limitations ‘The skills I’ve been asked to learn at — both his hands and feet had Walmart have come easily to me’ been amputated — most never bothered to respond. Walmart did, however, and hired him as next, he says simply: “Manage- along with a request that he a greeter. ment is next.” come, often quickly, to a particu- Not very long afterward, Rog- When he says it, he speaks with lar location. ers decided he wanted to be the quiet confidence born of the As for Rogers, he’s very com- more than someone who greet- struggles he has had to overcome fortable with who he is and what ed customers as they entered — in life and in business. He’s he’s accomplished thus far in his Walmart. He wanted to learn to currently an economics major at young life. Rogers: “I’ve asked to be accepted for what I’m capable of producing” work a cash register. The store Middle Tennessee State Univer- “I grew up faster than other manager had some reservations, sity, and says he would happily kids. As a result, I’ve been learn- somewhat surprised at the lack Rogers won’t have done too bad- given Rogers’ obvious limita- spend the rest of his working life ing differently since I was five,” of response his initial job ap- ly either. tions in dexterity. But he decid- at Walmart — provided the com- he says. “So the skills I’ve been plications elicited from other As Rogers himself puts it, “I’ve ed that the youngster had earned pany finds an appropriate place asked to learn at Walmart have retailers. “I expected some re- always asked to be accepted for a chance. In three months Rog- for him. For now, he’s happy do- come easily to me.” jections,” he says. “But I was who I am and what I’m capable ers mastered the cash register. ing what he does — which, in the He’s pleased, but not sur- surprised that some companies of producing. What applies to Describing the degree of diffi- main, is helping customers. prised, at the ease with which never even ­responded.” me should have application for culty he experienced in learn- “The customers are mostly other Walmart associates inter- Walmart did, however. And anyone looking to get ahead in ing the cash register, he uses the appreciative,” he says, though act with him. “I believe you’re Charlie Rogers has found a the world, to exert an impact, to word “­easily.” he admits that occasionally a treated the way you’ve asked to home that some who know him create a life. I had a bad break From there Rogers’ path at customer grows impatient with be treated,” he says. “I’ve asked doubted he’d ever find. early in life. But I never believed Walmart ran in one direction: him — for no reason that he can to be accepted for who I am and If it indeed becomes a perma- that my misfortune would defeat upward. He’s officially identi- ­identify. what I can do. And that’s what’s nent home, Walmart will emerge me. And, thanks to the faith some fied as a customer service man- As for his fellow associates, happened.” from the experience as the pri- Walmart people showed in me, it ager, though in fact he’s much they have embraced him without Rogers admits to being mary beneficiary — though hasn’t.”

MMR/July 22, 2013 9 NEWS Walmart No. 1 in Nashville Good Workers Are Respected NASHVILLE — Natasha Ter- was backed by a “guarantee” that several departments, books and Markarova, Armenian born, was the government would help Ter- ladies’ apparel prominent among raised in the former Soviet out- Markarova find work. them. And she’s been embraced post of Baku, Azerbaijan. Her life To fulfill this guarantee, the gov- by her fellow associates, a group growing up was a tension-filled ernment reached out to Walmart that has learned to lean on her, existence. Because she was Ar- — and Walmart responded, by of- especially when hard work and menian, her life was constantly in fering Ter-Markarova a job as an commitment are required. jeopardy — indeed, Armenians associate in the stockroom. Her husband passed away five were a persecuted people in the Today, 20 years later, Ter- years ago, but Ter-Markarova has former Soviet Union simply be- Markarova is an integral part of built a life without him. She cooks cause they were Armenians. the Walmart community in Nash- dinner for friends and does volun- In 1989 Ter-Markarova “es- ville. Her English has progressed teer work in the community. But caped” (her word), leaving Baku remarkably, to the point where life, for her, revolves around the and finally settling in Russia it has become the language she Walmart store at 4424 Lebanon three years later. But her life was uses to communicate. She an- Pike. “America brought me here,” no easier in that country. chors the ladies’ apparel assort- she says, “but Walmart gave me But in 1992 Natasha Ter-Mar­ ment at the Walmart on Lebanon the opportunity to live here.” Natasha Ter-Markarova, Yuki Ray Loomis at a Walmart in Nashville karova’s life changed — forever. Pike in the Nashville suburb of She had previously written to Hermitage. And she freely cred- President George H.W. Bush, re- its her customers and fellow as- questing that he grant her asylum sociates for the unimaginable Walmart Provides a New Challenge and be allowed to emigrate to the success of her American journey. United States under refugee sta- “America is my home,” she NASHVILLE — For the past in the end the promotion involved much the way he’s approached tus. In 1992 her wish was granted says, as only an immigrant can 21 years Doug Shepherd was no change of address at all. His every opportunity Walmart has under a U.S. program to offer asy- speak those words. “This country the store manager at Walmart new assignment gave him respon- offered: with quiet self-assur- lum to endangered Armenians. has given me everything good I’ve No. 671, located at 615 S. Cum- sibility for seven Walmarts in mid- ance that the task is not beyond So it was that she and her hus- ever had in this world.” berland St. in Lebanon, Tenn. It’s dle Tennesee. him. “Walmart has changed since band were brought to America — She’s similarly enthusiastic not that he wasn’t offered other, It says lots for Shepherd that I became a store manager,” he and to Nashville. about Walmart: “Walmart treats more expanded opportunities at his family came first. But his says. “Sustainability has become The woman who landed in the people as they ask to be treated. Walmart. Rather, those oppor- allegiance to Walmart has al- a key issue for Walmart — and Country Music Capital of Ameri- If you’re a good worker you’re tunities invariably included a ways come in a close second. So one of my priorities. As well, ca spoke no English and, though treated and respected as a good transfer to another area — and it was that, as his tenure at the ‘noise’ has become a concern of she had completed five years of worker.” Shepherd had no interest in re- Walmart on South Cumberland mine — or rather, finding ways to college, had been trained only Ter-Markarova has grown up locating while his children were Street came to a close, the town reduce the noise at Walmart. The as a piano teacher. Her husband, with the Walmart experience, still in school. of Lebanon turned out to show its stores have become noisier. As a another Armenian, was a dentist. from the day she was initially wel- Last fall his youngest son gradu- appreciation for his 21 years of result, they have become less fun They arrived with four suitcases comed to Walmart with a balloon ated high school, and that last bar- service. The mayor declared the for the customer. I’d like to work and the clothes on their backs. assortment. She attended the 2003 rier to transfer disappeared. And day “Doug Shepherd Apprecia- with the stores in my market to Neither had a job, though the U.S. Shareholders Meeting in Fay- so Shepherd was finally promoted tion Day,” and friends and fans, reduce the noise level.” government refugee program etteville, Ark. She has managed — to market manager. Ironically, among them local police officers, Shepherd has other priorities firemen, civic leaders, customers as well, foremost among them the and Chamber of Commerce offi- age-old challenges of improving cials, turned out to honor him. business, increasing efficiency To those who know Shepherd, and building and maintaining a none of this should have come as spirit of partnership and profes- a surprise. He began his Walmart sionalism among associates and career 26 years ago, as a cart between associates and store pusher and stocker in Bowling management. These are chal- Green, Ky., his hometown. A year lenges Shepherd has mastered later he had been promoted to as- before — specifically, in 21 years sistant manager and was enrolled as store manager in Lebanon, in the Walmart Training Program. a challenge he so far mastered By 1992 he had been named store that one day last spring, the town Add New Revenue manager at No. 671, despite the of Lebanon was renamed for fact that his Walmart career had 46-year-old Doug Shepherd. ® been interrupted by both college With so many achievements be- Streams with ProMAG and stints at other retailers. hind him, Shepherd’s Walmart Now he embarks on a new as- future looks especially promis- Magnetic Products. signment — market manager for ing — unless, of course, family seven Nashville-area stores. His obligations interfere. It wouldn’t new job has him reporting to be the first time — and, in the Shana Desmit, the regional man- end, those obligations, should ager responsible for 74 stores in they materialize, likely would not The only domestically Tennessee and Kentucky. He’s unduly hinder Doug Shepherd’s manufactured magnetic approaching this new challenge Walmart career. products for home, school or office applications. Ask us about magnets done your way… • Private-label Abilities • In-house Graphics Team • Stock and Hold Availability • EDI Capabilities

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10 MMR/July 22, 2013