Wal-Mart's VP of Business Development Quits for CEO Post at U.K. Chain
David Wild, s.v.p. for new business development at Wal-Mart in the U.S., is leaving the company to become c.e.o. of Halfords Group Plc, the largest U.K. retailer of car parts and bicycles.
Wild, who was head of Wal-Mart's new format team in northern California, is leaving the retailer just as it prepares to open four new small-format Marketside stores around Phoenix this year, going head-to-head with Tesco's Fresh & Easy format.
Before joining Wal-Mart in 2004, Wild spent 18 years at U.K.-based Tesco Plc, where he was involved with the company's European expansion.
Wild will start his new job at Halfords Aug. 4, the Redditch, England-based company said Friday in a statement. He succeeds Ian McLeod, who left at the end of February to run Australian supermarket chain Coles Group Ltd.
McLeod and Wild both worked for Wal-Mart in Germany before the world's largest retailer exited the market in 2006.
Wild, who was head of Wal-Mart's new format team in northern California, is leaving the retailer just as it prepares to open four new small-format Marketside stores around Phoenix this year, going head-to-head with Tesco's Fresh & Easy format.
Before joining Wal-Mart in 2004, Wild spent 18 years at U.K.-based Tesco Plc, where he was involved with the company's European expansion.
Wild will start his new job at Halfords Aug. 4, the Redditch, England-based company said Friday in a statement. He succeeds Ian McLeod, who left at the end of February to run Australian supermarket chain Coles Group Ltd.
McLeod and Wild both worked for Wal-Mart in Germany before the world's largest retailer exited the market in 2006.