Good morning! Fei-Fei Li’s startup developed a 3D-scene generation system, a scorecard by former Fox News hosts tracks companies on employee-silencing practices, and these are three women to know at Walmart.
- Shop smart. As the holiday season nears its apex, retailers are busy. That's doubly true for America's largest retailer: Walmart, the $650 billion giant that sits at No. 1 on the Fortune 500.
Strategizing Walmart's holiday season are three key executives, as my colleague Phil Wahba explores in a new Fortune story. They are:
—Latriece Watkins, chief merchant at Walmart U.S.
—Megan Crozier, chief merchant at Sam’s Club
—And Andrea Albright, executive vice president for sourcing, who oversees suppliers
Watkins tells Phil that the chief merchant is, in a way, America's personal shopper. Her team—for the company’s biggest division with 69% of its sales—decides what products makes it onto store shelves and online.
Crozier's journey to Sam's Club chief merchant included stints dedicated to buying cameras, food, and iPods. These days, Sam's Club is adding new products like lab-grown diamonds—in time for peak engagement season. The membership-only retailer and Costco competitor is responsible for about 13% of Walmart's annual sales.
Merchant jobs can lead to bigger things at major retailers; Walmart CEO Doug McMillion and U.S. CEO John Furner both spent time as senior merchants. So alongside other Walmart leaders like Walmart International chief Kath McLay these three women are execs to keep an eye on—through this holiday season and beyond.
Read Phil's full story here.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
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