Jack Shewmaker, Cls 58, who retired as vice chairman and chief financial officer of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in 1988, died Nov. 17 at his home in Bentonville, Ark., from a heart attack. He was 72.
Mr. Shewmaker was hired by Walmart founder Sam Walton as a district manager in 1970 and became president and chief operating officer of the company in 1978. He was promoted to vice chairman and chief financial officer in 1984.
Mr. Shewmaker is credited with helping develop the retail chain’s “Every Day Low Pricing” strategy and advocating its use of technology, an area in which it surpassed many of its competitors. Under Mr. Shewmaker’s leadership, Walmart began using bar codes and launched its first satellite system, which connected stores, distribution centers and the home office.
“I was very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time with Wal-Mart Stores,” Mr. Shewmaker once said in a speech for the College of Management’s IMPACT series. “I would attribute a lot of our success to being in a position where we dealt with very simple explanations, very simple definitions of who we were and what we were and what our business was. We combined with that the latest technology in a way that most people can’t imagine. We had computers in our stores probably five years before our major competitors.”
Walmart president and CEO Mike Duke, IE 71, said in a statement on the company’s Web site that Mr. Shewmaker “loved this company and gave it his heart as well as his considerable talents. He was a dear personal friend, and, though the company will benefit from his contributions for years to come, it is hard to imagine Walmart without Jack. … Jack was an extraordinarily gifted merchant, and one of my greatest ongoing development opportunities was to walk stores and clubs with Jack — with him striding ahead and me taking notes as quickly as I could.”
Following retirement from the retail chain, Mr. Shewmaker traveled the world working as a consultant and speaking to various organizations. He also served as a member of the Walmart board from 1977 to 2008.
Mr. Shewmaker served on the boards of several organizations, including the Springfield, Mo.-based Students In Free Enterprise Inc., for which he served as chairman for many years, and the Westark Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He was awarded the Boy Scouts’ Silver Beaver Award in 2010.
Mr. Shewmaker also bred champion Angus cattle at JAC’s Ranch, which he and his family owned and operated outside Bentonville.
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