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Soderquist, former Walmart exec, dies

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SPRINGDALE, Ark. — Former Walmart executive Donald Soderquist passed away July 21 from complications from heart surgery earlier in the week, according to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette, which reported the death citing an email from his daughter, Wendy Soderquist Togami, which said, in part, “We are grieving with all of you at this news, and yet with our sad hearts rejoicing that he is busy with his next assignment in heaven.”

Soderquist was 82 years old.

During a 22-year career at Walmart, Soderquist was regarded as a true keeper of the culture set forth by founder Sam Walton.

Soderquist was among the early advocates for food sales as a way of diversifying Walmart’s product mix beyond general merchandise. “There has been a lot of discussion about the idea of combining food and general merchandise,” Don Soderquist said at the company’s 1991 annual meeting. “The 168,000-square-foot Supercenter is the best combination food and general merchandise store that has been put on the streets so far.”

Soderquist began his career with the retailer in 1980 as its executive vice president of administration and distribution. He was promoted to the roles of chief operating officer and vice chairman in 1988. He stepped down from those posts in 2000 and officially left the company in 2002.

Following his retirement, Soderquist devoted himself to leadership development as the founding executive at The Soderquist Center, created in his honor in 1998 by John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Ark., the ­Gazette reported.

Soderquist was born in Chicago in 1934. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Wheaton College in Illinois in 1955. In the early 1960s he was working as a data processing executive at Ben Franklin stores in Chicago when he first met Sam Walton, who tried for more than a decade to recruit him to Walmart.

Upon his retirement from the company, then chairman Rob Walton said, “Without question, Don Soderquist has played a vital role in the growth and development of Walmart over the past 20 years. He is an inspiring leader and talented executive who sets the bar in terms of business ethics and personal integrity.”


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